《Buddha-like Rebirth》 CH 1 Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t like snowy days very much. It seemed that every time it snowed, he had bad luck. On a snowy day last year, shortly after he succeeded to the throne, because Xie Ke won a big battle and returned to the court, Fu Zhiyu was in a hurry to get back to the palace. On the way his horse was frightened, he fell on the snow and injured his arm. The injury had never healed, and when he was approving the memorials for a long time, his wrist would be faintly painful, as if pricked with pins and needles. His position was not yet firmly established in the imperial court, and because of his health, he was subjected to a lot of criticism from his senior ministers. In the winter of the year before last, before Fu Zhiyu was seated on the throne, Xie Ke was seriously wounded and caught up in the stalemate on the front line. Fu Zhiyu received a secret report and left everything in the capital, torn with anxiety, rushing to the rescue with his trusted aide doctor. Xie Ke was rescued and everything was fine, but Fu Zhiyu¡¯s mother, the imperial concubine, fell gravely ill, and he missed the last chance to see her. When Fu Zhiyu returned to the palace, all he saw was a coffin. He was also censured for absence without leave and was given 30 rods that cost him half his life and left him sick. During his recuperation, Xie Ke never visited him once. Six years ago in the winter, Xie Ke refused to come to see him for three months. When they met again, it was after the New Year when Xie Ke brought his newly married wife to appear before the Emperor. Fu Zhiyu looked at her from a distance. The daughter of Prime Minister Xue was indeed a rare beauty. When she stood next to General Xie, anyone who saw them had to admit that they were a match made in heaven. Fu Zhiyu smiled obediently all the way and vomited blood when he returned home. He decided to cut off the relationship completely, but who knew that the next day Xie Ke would take the initiative to come to his palace again? ¡­It seemed that it was all because of Xie Ke. Going back further, it was when he was sixteen years old and accidentally fell into the icy lake in winter that Xie Ke rescued him. Fu Zhiyu still remembered the young general untying the cloak and wrapping it around his cold and almost unconscious body. He struggled to open his eyes and saw Xie Ke¡¯s profile. At the time he was grateful for the life-saving grace that gave the heartbeat to a decade of longing. Now it seemed that it should¡¯ve been the beginning of bad luck. If it hadn¡¯t been for this sinful relationship with Xie Ke, he wouldn¡¯t have been in this state now. Unfortunately, now that Fu Zhiyu thought of these memories, there were no more ripples in his heart. ¡°Don¡¯t cry,¡± he coughed twice and struggled to prop himself up from the bed, ¡°¡­pour a glass of water.¡± The palace maid in front of the sickbed finally stopped crying. She seemed to be unprepared for the emperor who was in a coma to wake up suddenly. She was stunned for a long time before wiping her tears with her sleeves. She took the teapot from the table on the side and touched it. The water was cold. The emperor¡¯s palace didn¡¯t even have a cup of hot tea. If it was normal times, all the people in the palace would lose their heads. But now it was different. The army had reached the city gates and everyone knew Fu Zhiyu wouldn¡¯t be the emperor much longer. Now he was sickly, lying in bed basically in a coma; maybe he would die before the army came in. All the people in the palace had run away and only this one palace maid was willing to stay. ¡°This slave will go boil water¡­¡± ¡°Forget it,¡± Fu Zhiyu waved his hand, ¡°let¡¯s drink whatever we have.¡± He had a terrible headache and his throat was burning. A few sips of water made him feel a little better at least. Advertisements It was rare for Fu Zhiyu to be awake for a long time. After drinking the water, he rubbed his eyes, only to notice that it was dark around. He asked the palace girl hoarsely: ¡°What time is it now?¡± ¡°It¡¯s midnight,¡± the palace maid choked, ¡°Your Majesty, this slave heard that the rebellious subject will attack the city tomorrow¡­¡± The rebellious subject? Fu Zhiyu was taken aback for a moment and it took him a while to react. The rebellious subject was referring to Xie Ke, the great general of the state he had personally appointed. The palace maid was still wiping her tears when she suddenly heard the emperor on the sickbed laugh softly. ¡°What are you¡­ laughing at?¡± (She¡¯s using the formal ¡°you¡± everywhere.) ¡°I think the title given to him at that time was wrong,¡± Fu Zhiyi smiled and shook his head, ¡°He shouldn¡¯t be called the Great General of the State, he should be called the Great General of the Stolen State.¡± The military power was his, the secret service was his, the military achievements were his, the hearts of the people were his. And Fu Zhiyu endured and retreated again and again. Because he loved Xie Ke deeply, he did not retain even a trace of the dignity of the emperor in front of him. The poison from Xie Ke; he was unprepared and easily got into the trap, falling into a coma for dozens of days. Under such conditions, it would¡¯ve been really shameful had Xie Ke not rebelled. He even had a very legitimate reason. There was no other choice but to rebel; when an incompetent monarch was in power, people had no way to make a living. The palace maid was shocked; finally, thinking that His Majesty wouldn¡¯t be angry, she mustered up the courage to say, ¡°This slave, this slave will take you to run away. As the saying goes, on a green hill you don¡¯t need to worry about wood to burn, you¡­¡± In the little faint light in the hall, Fu Zhiyu could see the face of the palace maid in front of him. She was a young innocent girl; her eyes were red and swollen from crying, like rabbit¡¯s. ¡°I haven¡¯t seen you before, which palace are you from?¡± The palace maid knelt down hurriedly and replied in a trembling voice: ¡°This slave is just a rough servant palace maid of Xinzheku (a division of slaves and servants engaged in lowly servitude and hard labour). There is no one left in the palace and the guards serving His Majesty have also left. I came here secretly¡­¡± When the soldiers besieged the city, the remaining forces with a bit of brains had turned to Xie Ke, and the people who were only loyal to Fu Zhiyu were already dead. The full palace ran away cleanly; the last to stay around was a rough palace maid who had never seen him before. Enough to show how much of a failure he was as an emperor. Fu Zhiyu¡¯s eyes dimmed at the thought; he stretched out his hand to signal the palace maid to get up. ¡°What is your name?¡± ¡°Qiu, Qiu Rong.¡± ¡°Not a bad name,¡± Fu Zhiyu nodded, ¡°help me change my clothes.¡± ¡°You¡­¡± Qiu Rong¡¯s rabbit eyes widened, ¡°won¡¯t you run?¡± ¡°As long as the city is not taken, I am the emperor,¡± Fu Zhiyu said, ¡°The emperor cannot run away.¡± He had been ill for days and had lost a lot of weight, and his dragon robe looked empty when he put it on. Qiu Rong clumsily helped him fix his hair and clothes, and it was not until dawn that he managed to look presentable. Qiu Rong helped Fu Zhiyu step by step to the throne room, where the solid gold dragon chair was placed. Fu Zhiyu sat down and watched the sky light up. It was winter again, and he saw that it was starting to snow outside. The cold wind was blowing in, but Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t feel anything. Advertisements Maybe it was the final radiance of the setting sun (dying flash of lucidity before demise) but he actually lasted so long without passing out from the poison in his body. Fu Zhiyu coughed, a little dazed, and said to Qiu Rong, ¡°I should have known it would be like this¡­¡± Qiu Rong didn¡¯t hear him clearly. She was a rough palace maid who didn¡¯t learn any rules, so she leaned in and asked, ¡°What did you say?¡± ¡°The first time Mother Concubine knew about my affair with Xie Ke, she said that I would definitely die by his hand in the future,¡± Fu Zhiyu smiled. He didn¡¯t even use ¡°we¡± when referring to himself anymore. He propped his face and spoke of his memories, ¡°Mother Concubine was right. I didn¡¯t admit it at the time, but I knew in my heart that she was right. Xie Ke never loved me, only used me. But I always had illusions. I thought that if I did more and treated him well enough, maybe he would like me a little bit. You see, what good can come from liking him madly like that? The situation in front of you is probably retribution.¡± Qiu Rong only thought she had heard something scary. Her rabbit eyes reddened again. She wiped her eyes and said hesitantly, ¡°You¡­ you are a good person.¡± Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t know how to describe his current mood. He even gathered his dragon robe to wipe away the tears of the palace maid and then smiled: ¡°I was born in the imperial family and with this kind of infatuation, look what happened to me. If there is a fight outside, find a place to hide, they won¡¯t make it hard for a little palace maid. Live well and think of yourself more, don¡¯t follow my example.¡± Qiu Rong shook her head and said, ¡°I¡¯m not leaving.¡± Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t have much energy to persuade her; it was hard enough for him to stay awake. He didn¡¯t have to wait long before there were voices outside the throne room. It was said that the city was to be attacked today, but in reality, there was no more resistance in the capital. All Xie Ke needed to do was to lead his soldiers to the palace. Fu Zhiyu watched with narrowed eyes as the group of men walked in. The one at the head was Xie Ke. ¡°I didn¡¯t die, are you a little disappointed?¡± Fu Zhiyu coughed twice and glanced at Xie Ke. Xie Ke was not wearing armour today. He was wrapped in a white fox fur cloak, somewhat similar to the one Fu Zhiyu had seen him in for the first time. ¡°You¡­ abdicate voluntarily,¡± Xie Ke said after a long silence, ¡°and I will give you the antidote.¡± ¡°And then? Bestow me the title of Prince Heshun (heshun = gentle, compliant)? And I¡¯ll be a prisoner for the rest of my life?¡± Fu Zhiyu wanted to laugh, but his body wouldn¡¯t allow it. He sighed, ¡°Xie Ke, I have wronged many people, but not you.¡± Xie Ke didn¡¯t say anything. He took a deep look at the man on the throne, his eyes full of complicated feelings. But Xie Ke¡¯s ruthless heart was something Fu Zhiyu has experienced countless times. Even if he was wearing a dragon robe and sitting on a dragon chair now, he didn¡¯t have any choice. Voluntarily abdicate? That was what Xie Ke called it. After all, the imperial seal had long been in his hands. Fu Zhiyu got the antidote on the third day after Xie Ke ascended the throne. He really gave Fu Zhiyu the title of Prince Heshun. The title came with no real power, and Fu Zhiyu was placed under house arrest in a mansion near the palace. The silly palace maid, Qiu Rong, was still with him. The girl was so stupid that she was happy to see Fu Zhiyu looking better after taking the antidote. ¡°It¡¯s good to be a prince,¡± the girl knew no rules and was outspoken in front of Fu Zhiyu, ¡°being an emperor is exhausting.¡± Fu Zhiyu laughed and didn¡¯t answer her. After he got the antidote and was given a lot of decoctions by the imperial doctor to keep him alive, his body did get a little better. His face had some flesh again and he looked beautiful. One night while sleeping he felt an inexplicable rush of heat. He half-opened his eyes in a daze and saw a familiar face. It was Xie Ke. Fu Zhiyu had little ability to resist, so he suffered through what happened next. He looked up with his eyes wide open, but all he could see was darkness; there was no light in the room. In the process, he couldn¡¯t help but think hard about what he had liked Xie Ke for before for so long, about the times when Xie Ke had given him a little hope. But now, there was only a dead silence left in his heart, and he didn¡¯t even bother to groan. ¡°Wait for me a little longer,¡± Fu Zhiyu heard Xie Ke whispering in his ear, ¡°it¡¯s just a temporary grievance¡­¡± Fu Zhiyu wanted to laugh a little bit when he heard it, but he couldn¡¯t laugh now, he didn¡¯t have the strength. He had heard many different versions of this from Xie Ke¡¯s mouth, but not once had it ever come true. Disgusting liar. Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t sleep all night and lay awake until noon. Qiu Rong didn¡¯t know what had happened and thought he was sick again and was terrified. ¡°It¡¯s all right,¡± Fu Zhiyu said, ¡°help me go out to sit in the sun.¡± Qiu Rong did as she was told. A recliner was placed in the pavilion in the small garden a few days ago. The spring sun was the most comfortable, and it was also good to lie there and look at the flowers, birds, fish and insects. She helped Fu Zhiyu sit there and happily went to the kitchen to bring her master some newly made cakes to eat. When she returned, she yelled loudly and unruly for her master to try her handiwork, but there was no answer. Puzzled, Qiu Rong went around to the recliner to take a look, only to find that her master was dead. Fu Zhiyu¡¯s eyes were closed as if he was taking a nap. Some fresh red marks still could be seen on his neck, and a feathered arrow had pierced his heart precisely, blood dripping from the wound. If Qiu Rong had known better, she would have noticed that there was a small sign on the end of that feathered arrow. It was a new feather arrow made after the new emperor took office, excellent for assassination, guaranteed to kill with a single shot, for imperial use only. CH 2 Fu Zhiyu was not surprised by his death. Sooner or later, it was just a matter of time. As for blaming Xie Ke, it was better to blame himself. It was all retribution for his inability to know people. Now he was just a little worried about the silly palace maid Qiu Rong who accompanied him in his last days. He didn¡¯t know what would happen to her in the future. Maybe she would be bullied but he really couldn¡¯t do anything about it now that he was a dead man. But¡­ was it like this when people died? Fu Zhiyu died for the first time, he had no experience and didn¡¯t know if the situation in front of him was normal. He was in a black space with countless glowing star-like dots illuminating the space. In addition to these, there was a book floating in front of him. It was indeed a book, very thick. Fu Zhiyu looked around for a while, and after confirming that the book was indeed the only thing in this place, he tentatively took two steps forward and took a closer look at the book. It was different from the books he remembered. It had a very special cover. He didn¡¯t know what kind of paper it was made of; it had a very good texture to the touch and was very exquisitely made. The gilded cover was also very beautiful. There were a few large characters printed on it. It was probably the title of this book: ¡°His Name Will Live On in History¡±. Fu Zhiyu looked at these words carefully. He felt a little strange. The characters were not quite the same as he had learned. They seemed to be simplified, but he recognized them inexplicably and without obstacles. He stared at them for a while, then opened the book and saw a preface, probably the introduction of the book. ¡°His Name Will Live On in History¡± is a web novel published on Jinjiang Literature Network in 2014. It took three years to complete and caused a huge response from readers with the total number of hits on the Internet reaching 200 million. The novel describes the path of the male protagonist from being the son of a concubine in the general¡¯s house to dominating the world and becoming an emperor. It is a rare masterpiece of online literature that combines military, history, power and romance lines, grand in scale and strong and distinctive in characterisation. Fu Zhiyu frowned after reading this paragraph. Although he could recognise these simplified characters without any problem, he couldn¡¯t quite understand what they meant. What was that? He read on, skipping through a bunch of strange things like ¡°author¡¯s words¡± and ¡°famous readers¡¯ comments¡± that he also couldn¡¯t understand, and finally reached the first chapter. Although Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t understand the meaning of the previous things, he did get one central idea: this was fiction, in other words, a story like a huaben. However, Fu Zhiyu had never had much spare time to read such idle books as huaben. Now that he was dead and he had nothing to do anyway, he could just as well take a look at it. Fu Zhiyu simply sat down with his legs crossed and his head bowed as he read the first chapter, full of doubts. The book was not like the books Fu Zhiyu had read. The text was in vernacular, which was easy to understand. The first chapter was very simple. A twelve-year-old boy had just returned from his studies with his master. Because he was the son of a concubine and had not been home for a long time, he was slighted by the servants. But the young man was not subservient, and with a little trickery, he had the evil servant who had bullied him punished. Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t understand the basic concept of Shuangwen (a type of web novel; the characteristic of Shuangwen is that the protagonist has a smooth flow from the beginning of the novel to the end of the story) ¡°face-slapping¡±. He finished reading the chapter in a daze, with only one question in his heart. Why is the name of the protagonist of this book Xie Ke? Although he was already dead, Fu Zhiyu couldn¡¯t help but shiver. Not to mention the emotional entanglements during his lifetime, he knew very well how he died. The Heshun Palace was guarded by Xie Ke¡¯s own soldiers at the time and was very close to the emperor¡¯s palace. At that time, he was resting in the garden in the centre of the mansion. It was broad daylight. Except for Xie Ke, no one could have the ability and the desire to kill him, the abolished emperor, right? Fu Zhiyu once again clearly realised that he had underestimated Xie Ke¡¯s ruthlessness. His physical condition at the time was just hanging on to his life. Maybe he wouldn¡¯t survive for more than half a year. But Xie Ke really couldn¡¯t tolerate him at all. He wanted him dead and even chose the day after sleeping with him. Very impressive! Fu Zhiyu, who felt deeply that he was blindly in love with a scumbag, looked up speechlessly. Xie Ke¡¯s character was really much more suitable for being an emperor than his. Advertisements However, there were too many realistic things in this book. The first chapter introduced the protagonist, Xie Ke. His mother was a concubine who fell seriously ill and died when the protagonist was born. When the protagonist was three years old, he was taken in as an apprentice by a wandering master. This was the first time he had come home after nine years of martial arts training. The home that Xie Ke returned to was the house of General Zhongyong (zhongyong = loyal and brave). His father¡¯s name was Xie Lin. He was the first-class general with 800,000 military power and outstanding military achievements. The matriarch of the family, Lady Xu, seemed gentle and amiable, but in fact, she was very wary of Xie Ke, the son of a concubine, who had returned from studying in distant lands and was highly skilled in martial arts. The evil servant was deliberately sent by Lady Xu to test the abilities of this young man. The first few chapters took place in General Zhongyong¡¯s mansion, and there were many characters who appeared. Xie Lin¡¯s unpredictable concubines and the protagonist¡¯s half-brothers and sisters played their roles one after another. Although the protagonist was only twelve years old, he was calm by nature. The first chapters already demonstrated the protagonist¡¯s ability to strategize, and the good show had just begun. But for Fu Zhiyu, the plot was secondary. The setting and the characters, how could they all be exactly the same as the real thing? Although he was dead, he had not forgotten any of his memories from before he died. When Xie Ke was twelve years old, Fu Zhiyu was almost ten years old. He already remembered a lot. He was smart and could write a complete political essay on his own. He was also very familiar with the affairs of the state. Minister Xie Lin was powerful, and although many years had passed, Fu Zhiyu still remembered clearly what the situation in General Zhongyong¡¯s mansion was at that time, which was exactly the same as described in this book. Was this a history book? Fu Zhiyu frowned and dismissed this idea. The narrative and perspective of this book were too different from that of a history book. Even if it was an unofficial history, it would not focus on a single person as the main character, let alone describe in detail the dialogue and psychological goings-on. The narration of historical events required rigour and objectivity; even if it was not objective at heart, it at least had to appear neutral. Moreover, even an unofficial history would not spend such a long time writing about the shameful secrets of private matters of the family. Such things were not worthy to take the stage. Fu Zhiyu looked down, filled with great doubts. Advertisements The twelve-year-old Xie Ke was not like a teenager. He was very mature and serious. He had only been back for a month and he dealt with all the obstacles set by his stepmother and even turned the tables on her and was noticed by Xie Lin. Xie Lin paid attention to this son who had been away from home for a long time and tested his abilities. Seeing that he had a solid foundation in martial arts, he took Xie Ke to the horse training ground. Warriors are convinced by strength and don¡¯t care much whether one is born of the first wife or of a concubine. It was there that Xie Ke really stepped out of the shadows and met his peers. Then he became the leader of this group of young men and a popular figure in the capital. All these descriptions matched up with Fu Zhiyu¡¯s memories. What the hell was this? Puzzled, he read further, only to see his own name. ¡­Fu Zhiyu was the ninth son of Emperor Qingyuan, and his birth mother was Noble Concubine Yun. The emperor had many sons, and in terms of his mother¡¯s family background, Fu Zhiyu was not exceptional. But in terms of looks, no one was better than him in the whole palace. At a young age, he was already showing the signs of a peerless appearance. This is a compliment, I see. Fu Zhiyu rubbed his face, finally finding a little comfort in the book full of Xie Ke. He turned a page, and the evaluation took a sharp turn for the worse. ¡­The Ninth Prince was born with the appearance of an immortal, but his mind was extremely vicious. He was precocious and vindictive at heart. When he was eight years old, a newly-favoured noble lady in the palace became arrogant and domineering because of her pregnancy and offended him. Fu Zhiyu deliberately set up a plan to cause the noble lady to fall on the stone road of the imperial garden. The child in her belly was not saved, and she fell out of favour as a result. The matter was investigated for a few days but no clues were found, so the case was closed. The young man who looked like an immortal had the heart of a demon. Fu Zhiyu: ¡°What are you talking about?¡± I didn¡¯t, I didn¡¯t do it. What kind of crap book was this? Once again, he felt that his soul was in torment. Where did the rumour come from? When he was eight years old, there was indeed a noblewoman in the palace who slipped and fell and lost the foetus. She had a bad temper and had a little trouble with him, but he was only eight years old at that time, he slept on it and didn¡¯t care about it, let alone harming a woman and her unborn child. He was not a psychopath! This book was simply nonsense. Xie Ke, this messy and deceptive man, was praised countless times for his courage and resourcefulness, and when it was his turn, he just had dirty water splashed on him and was scolded for having a vicious heart? What kind of trash book is this? CH 3 Fu Zhiyu was furious at this nonsense. He thought to himself, ¡±Let¡¯s see how you are going to slander me next,¡± and continued to read on. Most of the later plot in the book was similar to his memory, and the personalities of the other characters in the book were exactly the same as in reality. Only he himself and the Fu Zhiyu in the book were almost like two different people, and even the interactions between himself and Xie Ke were also very different. Fu Zhiyu had heard of Xie Ke¡¯s name long before they met. When the military generals mentioned him, they all said that this young man¡¯s future was limitless, which made Fu Zhiyu have a very good initial impression of Xie Ke. So much so that when he fell into the frozen lake that winter day and was rescued by Xie Ke, he couldn¡¯t help but have his heart pounding. The moment of life-saving grace made him endure countless years of countless heartbreaks in some kind of mystifying daze. But it was not what happened in the book. The person Xie Ke rescued was not him. He saved the daughter of Prime Minister Xue, the woman who later married Xie Ke. And Fu Zhiyu had never been to that icy lake. The timing of their meeting in this book was also incorrect. In the book, Ninth Prince Fu Zhiyu only met Xie Ke when he was eighteen years old. The reason for the meeting was Fu Zhiyu¡¯s appreciation of Xie Ke¡¯s talent and wish to recruit him. At that time the covert rivalry between the princes was almost in the open. In the book Fu Zhiyu did not have any ambiguous feelings towards Xie Ke; all he wanted was to benefit from Xie Ke. However, Xie Ke¡¯s dislike for Fu Zhiyu was exactly the same as in reality. He felt that this prince¡¯s thoughts were too treacherous and cruel. But the other princes were not much better and after several refusals, Xie Ke ostensibly joined Fu Zhiyu¡¯s camp, but inwardly had his own calculations. The two were actually just using each other. In the book, after several battles, Fu Zhiyu finally defeated the other princes and ascended to the throne as he wished. Xie Ke was also awarded the rank of first-class general. However, there was distrust between the emperor and his subject, and after two years, Fu Zhiyu set a trap to make Xie Ke hand over his military power. But Xie Ke, who was already prepared for this, made the conspiracy fail. Then he found a reason and led his large army to rebel. Once Fu Zhiyu became the emperor, his temperament was brutal, his life was extravagant, and due to floods the people of the country were suffering unspeakably. Xie Ke¡¯s rebellion received a lot of support. In the end, Xie Ke attacked the imperial city, killed the tyrant, and ascended the throne as the emperor himself. That was not true! Fu Zhiyu closed the book and took a deep breath. He admitted that he was not a very good emperor, but he had never taken advantage of Xie Ke, and even his own fight for the throne was partly for Xie Ke¡¯s sake. He was never as brutal, unkind and extravagant as the book suggested. For Xie Ke he fought against the criticism of the ministers but there was no one in his harem. He kept everything simple and devoted himself to the governing of the dynasty. He had never had the slightest intention of snatching Xie Ke¡¯s military power. The floods did happen. He had just ascended to the throne and was on the verge of emptying the treasury for disaster relief, but there were layers of corruption in the middle of it all. He was furious, but before he could react to what to do with the corrupt officials and the poor victims, Xie Ke fed him the poison and rebelled. But regardless of the process, the ending was still the same. Whether in the book or in reality, he was an incompetent emperor who eventually died at Xie Ke¡¯s hands. However, Fu Zhiyu had only been in about one-fifth of the book, and there was more to come, all revolving around the main character, Xie Ke. The country of Jilin, where Fu Zhiyu grew up, was not the only one in the realm. There were also Chen and Jing in the Central Plains alone. Beyond the Central Plains, there was the southern border, the barbarians of the grasslands and the ancient states of the West. After Xie Ke ascended to the throne and became the emperor, he made good use of his strength to build up his army, gradually making the country rich and powerful, and eventually annexing the whole continent. He finally became a truly famous emperor whose name would live on in history. The book was really long, and sometimes Fu Zhiyu would be unconsciously in a daze for a while when reading it. Advertisements Of course, the content was also very rich, not only political battles and wars. There were also emotions in the middle as a seasoning. After all, Xie Ke was a famous emperor, and the harem of seventy-two concubines was the standard. Xie Ke was really successful, in every sense of the word. But¡­ what exactly was this book? Fu Zhiyu couldn¡¯t understand. If it was to record Xie Ke¡¯s magnificent life, why should he be the only one to be distorted? His love and hate were misplaced, but he was not such a bad person as described in this book. ¡°Have you finished reading?¡± A voice suddenly rang out from above his head, and Fu Zhiyu was so startled that the book in his hand that he didn¡¯t hold firmly fell at his feet. ¡°Who are you?¡± ¡°I am the Lord God.¡± Fu Zhiyu looked at the place where the voice came from, and a ball of light gradually appeared in the void. The radiant appearance really had something divine in it. When the ball of light floated to him, it inexplicably asked him, ¡°Excuse me, why can¡¯t I delete you?¡± Fu Zhiyu hadn¡¯t gotten over the shock of ¡°Why would a ball of light talk?¡± yet when he was confused by this sentence. ¡°You¡­ what do you mean?¡± The ball of light that called itself the Lord God explained to him very patiently, ¡°Have you read the book just now? Did you find yourself different from the one in the book? You are out of character. The plot line and emotional line are even more messed up. If it weren¡¯t for the protagonist¡¯s actor being strong enough to forcibly pull the main line back on track, this mission would have failed. All of this clearly indicates that your data is very wrong, probably infected, and with a stubborn virus at that.¡± Fu Zhiyu: ¡°¡­I don¡¯t understand.¡± The ball of light flew around him, seemingly ignoring Fu Zhiyu¡¯s answer, and said to itself, ¡°Strange, usually abnormal data can be captured and deleted by the cleanup system immediately after death in the original world. Why can¡¯t this one be deleted anyway? Hey, does this data have some unfulfilled wish or something like that, and a particularly strong one?¡± Fu Zhiyu was taken aback. He did have a lot of regrets, but they all calmed down with death, so¡­ they shouldn¡¯t be considered as strong. ¡°Forget it, you¡¯re an ancient world data, I can see that you can¡¯t understand,¡± the ball of light sighed, ¡°If you stay in the cleanup system for a long time, the system pipes will be clogged. Hurry up and go.¡± Before Fu Zhiyu could ask where he was going, everything before his eyes blurred. He was taken out of the original strange space by the ball of light and put inside a small room. Advertisements ¡°I just did it manually a few times but I still can¡¯t delete you. I can¡¯t even adjust the data. You¡¯re really weird, one of the weirdest bugs I¡¯ve ever encountered,¡± said the Lord God ball of light. ¡°Just stay here by yourself. It¡¯s close to the Master Brain and the radiation is strong. Let¡¯s see if we can consume you slowly. In fact, there is no point for you to be like this. Can¡¯t die even if you die, it¡¯s so tiring.¡± This small room was much better than the previous space. It was very bright. Although there was no door, there was a large window. Fu Zhiyu was not used to it at first. He looked out of the window and not a single person could be seen, only a lot of round iron balls floating around. There were conversations between the iron balls. Fu Zhiyu could understand them, but didn¡¯t understand their meaning. They were all as divine as the Lord God, talking about their divine things. He lived in this room for a long time. For so long that the Lord God ball of light had to accept reality, didn¡¯t expect to delete him anymore and came to talk to him sometimes, often bringing some information over, and also taking the initiative to explain a lot of things. So after a long time, Fu Zhiyu understood. His original world was the book, the one that was called ¡°His Name Will Live On in History¡±. There were countless such worlds in the space of the Lord God. The protagonist was the most important person in these worlds, but there were always some worlds where the protagonist would have some abnormalities due to an accident, which would bring turmoil to the original world. After that, the ¡°actors¡± would appear. By playing the role of the protagonist, the actor would follow the set storyline and ensure that the main line did not deviate from it. This was the actors¡¯ task. Xie Ke was one of the ¡®actors¡¯. ¡°And one of the very best. Among the current actors, his points can be ranked in the top three, and now there is a trend for him to rise to the first place,¡± the Lord God said to Fu Zhiyu. ¡°Aborigines like you don¡¯t matter. This is actually just one of his missions.¡± After listening to this, Fu Zhiyu lowered his head and smiled, saying, ¡°Okay.¡± Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t know how long he had been here. It might be decades, or might be centuries. He didn¡¯t live in that small room anymore either. After all, there was no sign of being deleted at all after living there for so long. But he spent most of his time next to the Master Brain, looking at information from other worlds, sometimes walking around inside the Lord God space and communicating with the busy-looking balls when he got the chance. It was only later that he learned that the balls were called ¡°systems¡±, and each actor had one. Systems provided plot reminders, role-playing advice, point exchange and other services. The systems were actually curious about Fu Zhiyu, a bug that could not be removed. ¡°The Lord God even mentioned before, why don¡¯t you go and be an actor?¡± One system said to him, ¡°If you become an actor, I can be your system. Yeah, I¡¯m very good.¡± ¡°The Lord God means well, but I don¡¯t want to do it,¡± Fu Zhiyu said and emphasised by repeating, ¡°I don¡¯t want to be an actor.¡± Fu Zhiyu thought that this would be his life from now on, but the unexpected happened again. On that day, he stayed next to the Master Brain as usual to read the information, when suddenly the alarm went off. This was the first time Fu Zhiyu had heard an alarm from the Master Brain. He didn¡¯t know what to do about it, so he simply stayed where he was. But the alarm never stopped, and Fu Zhiyu couldn¡¯t avoid it anywhere. He just felt like his brain was about to explode. Then the Lord God came rushing over to him, its round body moving so fast that it looked like a small cannonball. Fu Zhiyu asked it, ¡°What¡¯s going on? Is there a problem with the data again?¡± ¡°No, we¡¯ve been attacked from outside! It¡¯s that man, he¡¯s been planning this for a long time!¡± The Lord God ball of light looked very anxious, ¡°Zhiyu, listen to me, there¡¯s not enough time now, your world is going to reboot, you have to go back! I don¡¯t know how much you¡¯ll remember going back, but you have to remember this! That Xie Ke is crazy! Actor 027 is out of his mind! You need to stay as far away from him as possible!¡± CH 4 Fu Zhiyu hadn¡¯t reacted yet. His brain was so messed up by the alarm that it felt as if it had been mushed into a ball of paste. When the Lord God finished speaking but before Fu Zhiyu had time to answer, he felt a great suction force behind him, sucking him in all at once. Everything in front of his eyes turned black, and he suddenly lost consciousness. ¡°Awake, awake! His Highness is awake!¡± When Fu Zhiyu came round again, the only thing he felt was that his whole body seemed soft and he didn¡¯t have any strength at all. He felt hot and cold, sticky and very sore. Not only that; but there was also the sound of women talking, as well as a faint sobbing. All this made him feel strange and uncomfortable; his mind was sluggish. At that moment, he couldn¡¯t figure out who he really was. His eyes remained half-open and he couldn¡¯t see clearly. His vision was dim and blurred. ¡°Xiaobao (Little Treasure)?¡± He felt a woman crying while touching his face with trembling hands, ¡°Are you¡­ really awake? Look at Mother Concubine¡­¡± All other sensations were blurred, but only the touch of these hands was clear. Fu Zhiyu seemed to be pulled out of the illusion of nothingness by these hands all at once, and his eyes finally brightened. ¡°You¡­ Mother Concubine?¡± He strained his throat and managed a few words, ¡°I¡­¡± Before he finished speaking, the woman, who saw him really wake up, cried out excitedly, buried her face in his shoulder socket and her tears instantly wet his clothes. ¡°It¡¯s fine, it¡¯s fine,¡± Fu Zhiyu stretched out his hand, coughed twice, and finally found his voice. He slowly stroked his mother¡¯s hair and said softly, ¡°¡­I¡¯m back.¡± After that, an imperial doctor came to check Fu Zhiyu¡¯s pulse, turned around and bowed his head respectfully, saying, ¡°Congratulations to Noble Imperial Concubine Yun(1), His Highness Ninth Prince has survived and is no longer in danger. However, the weather has been cold recently, and long-term recuperation is still required to avoid falling ill. I will write down a prescription, please take the medicine regularly.¡± When Concubine Yun heard this, she was overjoyed. She rewarded the doctor and then touched Fu Zhiyu¡¯s face again, shedding tears in distress. ¡°My son is so thin,¡± she cried, ¡°If I had known, I wouldn¡¯t have stayed in that Longquan Temple. I was praying for blessings but did my son a disservice.¡± Fu Zhiyu¡¯s throat felt uncomfortable after saying a few words. Even after drinking some water, it still hurt badly, so he stopped talking, just holding his mother¡¯s hand, reluctant to let go. His mind gradually became clear, and it occurred to him what scene it probably was. Advertisements That winter, according to the protocol, a grand ceremony was to be held, with the imperial family praying for good weather and prosperity for the country. Longquan Temple on the outskirts of the capital was the official temple of the founding dynasty and had been the site of major ceremonies for many years. The imperial family had always attached great importance to it. The emperor, the empress and the concubines of the harem with the rank of noble concubine and above were all present, and a number of important ministers accompanied them. Several princes, including Fu Zhiyu, also followed. The ceremony went well and ended three days ago. However, the Empress Dowager had always been fond of the purity of Buddhism and wanted to discuss Buddhism with the abbot, so she stayed for a few more days, as did several of the concubines, including Concubine Yun. She stayed not to keep the Empress Dowager company, but because she had heard that the peace talisman of Longquan Temple was extremely spiritual, so she thought of begging for one for Fu Zhiyu. The peace talisman was received, but on the night before leaving the temple, Fu Zhiyu fell into the ice lake not far from Longquan Temple. Although he was rescued, he had floated in the ice lake for a while, and when the doctor arrived, he had already fainted. He had been suffering from a fever since then, and several prescriptions were of little use. It was even thought that the Ninth Prince might not be able to survive. But who knew what kind of destiny he had; perhaps the peace talisman of Longquan Temple was really useful and couldn¡¯t let the imperial bloodline die here, so Fu Zhiyu survived in the end. Back then Fu Zhiyu went to the ice lake because he was curious about it. Although the lake in the palace also froze in winter, the ice was not as thick as in the temple, thick enough for people to be able to stand on it. It was also very boring in the temple. Fu Zhiyu had been here for more than ten days, and the ice lake was the only place he found interesting. Every day after reciting the scriptures with his mother, he secretly went there. A group of young monks who had just joined the temple quietly made skates and took advantage of the night to skate there happily. Fu Zhiyu couldn¡¯t skate, but he was just sixteen years old this year. He still had a youthful mentality. It was very enjoyable to watch this lively scene. Unexpectedly, as soon as he stepped on the ice that day, the ice broke under his feet and he fell into the water. Then¡­ Xie Ke appeared. But why didn¡¯t the scene follow the original plot line in the book? Where did Miss Xue go this time? Fu Zhiyu had some doubts. He happened to be sent back by the Lord God at this plot point. If he came earlier, he wouldn¡¯t go to the ice lake even with the knife pressed to his neck. Not to mention the almost fatal incident, he robbed Miss Xue¡¯s plot line and met Xie Ke, which was really unlucky. Fu Zhiyu still remembered the last thing the Lord God said to him, but he didn¡¯t know what the specific situation was, and the Lord God hadn¡¯t had time to finish speaking. Advertisements In any case, at this point in time, he still had a chance to extricate himself. Fu Zhiyu lay on the bed, pondering silently. No matter what Xie Ke wanted to do this time, the farther away from him, the better. Anyway, he was just a cannon fodder who had only lived for a fifth of the book. As long as the protagonist didn¡¯t deviate from the main line, the stability of the world wouldn¡¯t be affected. As a stubborn bug in the system, Fu Zhiyu was in a stable state of mind and even his mood was good. He thought that his mother concubine was barely mentioned in the book, not important to the plot, let alone the main line, so her fate could be changed, too. If he had a chance to do it all over again, he would never let her die so aggrieved and early. Fu Zhiyu had plans but he had just woken up and his body was not well yet. In the end, he couldn¡¯t resist his grogginess. He turned his head and fell asleep again. In order not to disturb his rest, Concubine Yun also went out and personally watched over the kitchen to make the medicine. Only two guards were left by Fu Zhiyu¡¯s room, standing outside the door, and a palace maid was waiting a short distance away with her head bowed, ready for her master to summon her at any time. Because of his health problems, Fu Zhiyu couldn¡¯t rush back to the palace, and after he woke up, the Empress Dowager also had her say. Longquan Temple had the Buddha¡¯s blessing. The miraculous recovery of the Ninth Prince was ironclad evidence. He should have stayed here until he was well enough to go back. Here, he would be living in the north wing. Although Longquan Temple was an official temple of the dynasty and was heavily guarded, it was not comparable to the imperial palace. If someone had a wish to come in, it was not difficult. In the middle of the night, the palace maid guarding the house felt drowsy. For some reason tonight her sleepiness was so overwhelming that she couldn¡¯t keep her eyes open. She quietly put her head on the wall on one side and decided to close her eyes for a moment. But as soon as her eyes closed, she quickly fell asleep, as if she had been drugged. Fu Zhiyu also fell into a deep sleep, so he couldn¡¯t see that at this very moment a cloud covered the moon and, taking advantage of the darkness, a man tumbled through the window at such speed that the guards on patrol didn¡¯t even notice. Fu Zhiyu only felt that his dream was very unsettling. There was a huge snake in his dream that entangled him tightly from head to toe, suffocating him, so he had to open his mouth wide to get some air. But the snake was very annoying and refused to leave him even this option to breathe. The snake¡¯s tongue reached out and licked his lips lightly, its fangs nibbling his mouth repeatedly, making Fu Zhiyu gag. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m sorry¡­¡± He heard the snake gushing apologies while still refusing to let him go. If you are sorry, release me! Fu Zhiyu couldn¡¯t break free from the coils of the snake and was in such a sorry state in his dream that he couldn¡¯t even speak. ¡°It¡¯s me who understood too late¡­ I waited for a long time and did a lot¡­ just for a chance.¡± The snake completely ignored his struggle and locked him tighter, as if it wanted to rub Fu Zhiyu into its flesh and blood. It then whispered in Fu Zhiyu¡¯s ear, ¡°As long as you¡¯re back¡­ finally everything can start again, we, we can start again.¡± The author has something to say: Xiao Yu: I don¡¯t think so. CH 5 Fu Zhiyu slept until noon the next day. After he woke up, he felt much better and could already sit up on the bed, propping himself up with his hands. Concubine Yun, feeling distressed for him, fed him spoonfuls of medicine and asked, ¡°Do you feel better?¡± He nodded and replied: ¡°I had a strange dream last night. I dreamed of a big snake wrapping around me. I don¡¯t know what it signifies.¡± ¡°It means an assault of a villain,¡± Concubine Yun put down the spoon in her hand, a hint of worry on her face, ¡°I didn¡¯t even have time to ask you about the situation before. That incident on the ice lake, was someone in the palace scheming against you?¡± ¡°I went there by myself, but someone did play a part,¡° Fu Zhiyu said with a smile. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, you don¡¯t need to bother with it. Just leave it to me, I will take care of it.¡± He had already investigated the ice lake in his previous life. It was not the first time he had been to the ice lake in this kind of cold weather. Fu Zhiyu knew very well how thick the ice was over there. It would never collapse as soon as he stepped on it, and none of the young monks who used to be there all the time appeared that day, otherwise he wouldn¡¯t have stayed in the ice water for so long before being rescued. It was someone in the palace who was restless; knowing that Fu Zhiyu had been going there every day recently, this person deliberately designed the accident. And this person was his old acquaintance, his old rival who opposed him since he was born, Eighth Prince Fu Rongli. He was the second son of Noble Concubine Xue, only half an hour older than Fu Zhiyu. Fu Rongli was born almost at the same time and was always compared to Fu Zhiyu since he was a child. Fu Zhiyu bettered him again and again, and hatred was born. In fact, Fu Zhiyu had no particular opinion on Fu Rongli, but he was targeted by the Eighth Prince over and over, and sooner or later he would be annoyed. This grand ceremony made the conflict even more intense. After all, on such an important occasion, the emperor only brought the Crown Prince, the Third Prince and Fu Zhiyu, and Fu Rongli was left behind. More importantly, the emperor originally wanted to bring him along, but who was to blame that the last time Fu Rongli wrote an essay on political theory he submitted it at the same time as Fu Zhiyu? The contrast was extremely obvious. After reading it, the emperor became angry and reprimanded him. Not only did he leave Fu Rongli behind, he even gave an order that the Eighth Prince should retreat to study and stay in the library during the ceremony. Originally, had Fu Zhiyu moved with the large camp, Eight Prince would not have had a chance. But he stayed in the temple after the ceremony and walked alone, giving Fu Rongli an opportunity to make his move. In his previous life, Fu Zhiyu woke up and felt very suspicious, but the ice lake had already frozen again and he couldn¡¯t find any clues, so he was going to give up and get better first. He didn¡¯t expect the other side to hear that he woke up, to be very upset and strike again, and to be caught in the act at once. If he followed the experience of the previous life, it should be¡­ tomorrow night? Concubine Yun stretched out her hand and wiped the corners of his mouth with a silk handkerchief. Although the worry on her face didn¡¯t dissipate, she never argued with her son. ¡°Let Dr. Chen come in,¡± Fu Zhiyu said after drinking the medicine, ¡°I have something to discuss with him.¡± Advertisements ¡°Good,¡° Concubine Yun agreed, and said to him as if she had remembered something, ¡°By the way, the person who saved you is General Xie¡¯s third son, named Xie Ke. He has been coming to see you but you were in a critical condition and Dr. Chen wouldn¡¯t even let me into the room, let alone him. When the Empress Dowager heard that he saved you, she rewarded him with a lot of things on the spot, but he still wouldn¡¯t leave, waiting outside. He finally went back when he heard that you were better. Now he¡¯s here again, just standing outside. I don¡¯t know why he is like this, he seems to be a little¡­ too concerned? I was a bit wary, so I only rewarded him, but still didn¡¯t let him in. Do you want to see him?¡± Fu Zhiyu was taken aback; what kind of game was Xie Ke playing? In his previous life, Xie Ke never appeared again after saving him. Fu Zhiyu spent some time just to find out who his rescuer was. He didn¡¯t understand why Xie Ke was a bit unhappy after saving him. Later he read the original book and realised that it was because he had stolen Miss Xue¡¯s plot. Xie Ke, the actor, saved him only to find out that he was not Miss Xue. If the plot deviated, he was going to be deducted points. Naturally he was unhappy. What did he want to do this time? Fu Zhiyu wondered, was the current Xie Ke still the original Xie Ke? Had the actor been changed? But the last sentence of the Lord God clearly referred to ¡°that¡± Xie Ke, so Fu Zhiyu really didn¡¯t know what he was doing this time. Fu Zhiyu thought for a while and said, ¡°Just say that I am still not feeling well and not suitable to see guests for fear of infecting others. When I¡¯m well enough, I will visit him in person to thank him for saving my life.¡± In the tea room a few doors away, Xie Ke, who had been waiting, heard this reply, but did not leave. ¡°¡­is he still not feeling well?¡± He nervously asked the servant who came to deliver the message, ¡°I went to the mountains yesterday and dug up some old ginseng. Can you¡­¡± ¡°Young Master Xie, please don¡¯t make things difficult for me,¡± the servant had some helplessness written on his face. He had been facing this Young Master Xie for more than a day or two and didn¡¯t know what this one really wanted. ¡°The prince said, when he is well enough, he will come to visit you. As for the medicine, there is everything in the palace, and the imperial doctor has his own arrangements. I¡¯m not bold enough to dare give the prince the medicine from outside at this time, right?¡± After saying this, the servant lowered his head and bowed, raising the tray in his hands again. This was a reward from Concubine Yun, and the servant didn¡¯t know how many times it had been offered. But this man, who knew what he wanted, refused to accept the reward and only asked for one thing: he wanted to see the Ninth Prince. At this juncture, how could it be possible? Advertisements Fu Zhiyu put Xie Ke¡¯s affairs aside for the time being. No matter how awesome the protagonist was in the future, now he said he didn¡¯t want to see him, so he wouldn¡¯t see him, and Xie Ke couldn¡¯t barge in. Dr. Chen entered the room, first checked his pulse, breathed a sigh of relief, and said, ¡°Master is lucky, there is no more danger.¡± When the two were alone, Dr. Chen did not call him ¡®His Highness Ninth Prince¡¯ but just ¡®Master¡¯. There was nothing unusual about it. Fu Zhiyu was sixteen years old this year, not six years old. His position among princes was top-notch. It was normal to have a trusted imperial doctor in the palace, a basic thing necessary to protect life. Dr. Chen originally followed Concubine Yun and later, when Fu Zhiyu became sensible, followed him. Dr. Chen¡¯s medical skills were good, especially his ancestral golden needle technique, which was one of the best in the Imperial Hospital. ¡°I¡¯ve been troubling you all this time,¡± Fu Zhiyu said, ¡°but I have one more thing to ask for.¡± ¡°Please tell me.¡± ¡°Help me play a scene,¡± Fu Zhiyu said, ¡°a half-true and half-false scene. When I wake up tomorrow, I¡¯ll say that I¡¯m fine and the other imperial doctors will all go back, leaving only you, so my condition will be completely under your control.¡± Dr. Chen glanced at him in surprise and said, ¡°Master means this matter is not over yet?¡± ¡°It¡¯s not over,¡± Fu Zhiyu said, ¡°But I don¡¯t want to attract attention to it.¡± When Dr. Chen heard what he was going to do, he didn¡¯t ask anything else. He only listened to Fu Zhiyu¡¯s words and retreated when he knew what he had to prepare. After Dr. Chen left, Fu Zhiyu lay on the bed thinking about the events of his previous life. In his last life, Fu Rongli had failed once, so he made a move again, tampering with Fu Zhiyu¡¯s medicine. The medicinal materials were sent from the palace, and he changed things at the source. It was a pity that Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t drink a drop of that bowl of decoction. Dr. Chen had a keen nose, and when he smelled it, he felt that this bowl of medicine was different from usual. He was also smart. He didn¡¯t speak out at the time, but gave Fu Zhiyu a wink when he handed the medicine. Fu Zhiyu understood it on the spot. To avoid scaring the snake (alerting the enemy), he poured all the medicine into the quilt under the cover of Dr. Chen. Then he followed the trail and grabbed Fu Rongli¡¯s fox tail. The second attempt was arranged in a hurry, not as meticulous as the first one on the ice lake; after all, Fu Rongli didn¡¯t expect Fu Zhiyu to wake up. Then he was caught by Fu Zhiyu with all the physical evidence. The emperor was outraged by this incident and scolded the Eighth Prince for harming his brother, and the Empress Dowager was also furious. Although Fu Rongli still retained the title of prince, it was clear that he had been completely abandoned. Concubine Xue was scolded for not being strict with her son and was confined for half a year. Finally her family managed to get her released but she no longer had the glory of the past. Third Prince Fu Rongye, who was also Concubine Xue¡¯s son, was affected too. He fell behind in the struggle with the Crown Prince and didn¡¯t rise up for a long time. The incident on the ice lake was a powerful one, shaking the harem, but the most important thing about it was that it made Fu Zhiyu stand out. After weakening the two sons of Concubine Xue, the Ninth Prince, who had always been praised by the emperor as ¡°naturally talented and capable to take up a great responsibility¡±, faced the Crown Prince almost directly. At that time, whether Fu Zhiyu wanted it or not, he was pushed into the vortex of the princes¡¯ struggle for power and could no longer get out. But this time he didn¡¯t want to play it that way. Fu Zhiyu thought, ¡°What is there to fight for? In the end, it¡¯ll all be Xie Ke¡¯s. This group of people, including myself, won¡¯t end up well anyway, so why bother with anything at this point?¡± The author has something to say: Xiao Yu: I¡¯m a Buddha, I won¡¯t play with you guys anymore. CH 6 Fu Zhiyu waited patiently for the bowl of medicine, and it really arrived as expected. Dr. Chen had known about it from Fu Zhiyu beforehand. His master said that there was a problem with this bowl of medicine, and when he smelled it, there was really something wrong. But he was watching the whole time when the medicine was being decocted, so something must have been wrong with the medicinal materials delivered. Like last time, Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t take a sip. He poured the bowl of medicine into his quilt smoothly. This time, he prepared and sewed a special bag in the quilt. Most of the medicine flowed into the bag and was saved. ¡°Let¡¯s see what he¡¯s got up his sleeve. If I really drank it, what would happen?¡± Fu Zhiyu said, ¡°I need to put on a full show.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t you want to continue to pursue this?¡± Dr. Chen was really puzzled. ¡°This must be related to the incident on the ice lake last time, and it is likely to be the work of the same person.¡± ¡°No need,¡± Fu Zhiyu said, thinking that he had already investigated it once, there was no need to spend time investigating it again. ¡°Just do as I say.¡± Dr. Chen removed the bag with the medicine from the quilt and took out another thing from his sleeve. ¡°This is the residue of the medicine,¡± Dr. Chen said. ¡°I¡¯ve just taken a look at it. This is quite a coincidence. It is not a poison; the medicine that the prince takes has to go through a silver needle test for poison. If it was a poison, no matter what, it would not enter your mouth. There is one herb in it, the dried chaste tree. It is a mild tonic for qi and blood, but it can only be used if it is less than five years old. Although the old dried chaste tree is also non-toxic, the older the age, the stronger the medicinal properties are. It is very unsuitable for Master to take it now and it conflicts with the medicinal properties of other herbs. Dried chaste tree is generally cut into small pieces for use, and if you don¡¯t look closely, you can¡¯t tell its age. If the Master drank this bowl, I¡¯m afraid Master¡­¡± Fu Zhiyu nodded, indicating that he understood, and asked again: ¡°Will it cause a high fever?¡± ¡°Very likely.¡± ¡°Very good,¡± Fu Zhiyu finally showed a smile on his face, ¡°Then I will continue to have a high fever.¡± ¡°You will?¡± Dr. Chen was surprised, ¡°You asked me to prepare those things before, just for this?¡± Fu Zhiyu smiled and said, ¡°Of course. You are the only imperial doctor here now. Even if other imperial doctors receive orders to come, they will miss the most critical moment. We have enough time to prepare.¡± ¡°But¡­¡± Dr. Chen hesitated, ¡°If you really want to do it at this level, even if you just pretend, it will be easy to hurt your body. I¡¯m afraid¡­¡± Fu Zhiyu said calmly, ¡°It¡¯s fine, you can apply the needles.¡± Dr. Chen still didn¡¯t dare. For the first time, his hand holding the golden needle trembled. ¡°Does Noble Imperial Concubine Yun know about this?¡± Dr. Chen asked rebelliously, ¡°If she knew, I¡¯m afraid she wouldn¡¯t agree.¡± Fu Zhiyu was not angry. He even stretched out his hand and patted Dr. Chen on the shoulder as a comfort: ¡°I will tell her so that Mother Concubine won¡¯t need to worry.¡± Dr. Chen still didn¡¯t dare to start. He asked again: ¡°Master, why are you doing this?¡± Fu Zhiyu sighed and did not answer directly, but asked, ¡°If you had a choice, Dr. Chen, would you enter the palace?¡± Dr. Chen barely gave it much thought and immediately shook his head. He was from the family of imperial doctors. From the moment he was born, he was destined to enter the palace as an imperial doctor. ¡°A healer is only a healer if he can help the world. Living in the palace for a long time is only counted as being a subject, not a doctor.¡± ¡°Very good,¡° Fu Zhiyu said, ¡°Do as I say, and I promise you will get what you want in the future.¡± You have to get farther and farther away from this vortex, otherwise you will be sucked in, unable to get out. Dr. Chen gritted his teeth and finally applied the needle. The grand ceremony was originally to pray for peace, but the imperial family was really not peaceful this winter. The Ninth Prince, who was originally said to be out of danger, for some reason started to burn again, and the fever wouldn¡¯t subside. The fever continued intermittently for about ten days, and Fu Zhiyu was transferred back to the palace from the temple. ¡°Don¡¯t overact,¡± Fu Zhiyu sat in the carriage on the way back to the palace, wiping the tears of his distressed mother. ¡°Your eyes have been red for days, don¡¯t hurt your body.¡± ¡°Dr. Chen¡¯s needles are too cruel,¡± Concubine Yun touched his face, lowered her voice and said worriedly, ¡°Is it really fine? I feel your forehead is hot when I touch it, it feels just like the real one.¡± Fu Zhiyu said: ¡°It¡¯s fine, it¡¯s just for the time of the consultation with other imperial doctors. It¡¯s all fake but if I don¡¯t do this, I can¡¯t fool them.¡± ¡°You, what exactly are you trying to do?¡± Concubine Yun sighed, ¡°Although it¡¯s pretending, it¡¯s not easy to toss yourself like this.¡± Fu Zhiyu: ¡°Don¡¯t worry. After returning to the palace, we¡¯ll just watch the dog bite the dog.¡± The fever was just a process. What Fu Zhiyu wanted was the result. ¡°Now I am the one whose brain has been burnt out,¡° Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t want to say any more. He snuggled up to Concubine Yun, like an ordinary teenager, coquettish with his mother, ¡°Mother Concubine, I want to eat milk cake.¡± ¡°You won¡¯t eat it,¡± Concubine Yun tapped him on the head, ¡°Dr. Chen said you still have to drink medicine so you can¡¯t eat these things.¡± Fu Zhiyu raised his head to look at her. His Highness the Ninth Prince had tossed himself hard enough lately. He had lost a lot of weight and his eyes were even bigger than before. He blinked and looked pitiful. ¡°Just one bite for you,¡± Concubine Yun was defeated. ¡°I¡¯ll tell Cai Yan later that the kitchen is not allowed to cook these things in the near future so as not to delay the Prince¡¯s recuperation.¡± Because of his illness, the Ninth Prince couldn¡¯t bear the bumpy road, so the procession moved very slowly but was so tightly guarded that no one could approach it. The worst news is the most difficult to hide, and Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t want to hide it at all. The Ninth Prince¡¯s brain had been burnt out because of a high fever. The imperial city already knew about it. The fact that the prince, who was praised as a ¡°genius¡± by the great scholars of the dynasty, was brain-damaged might be more dramatic than his death from illness. Everyone was curious as to what His Highness the Ninth Prince looked like now. No one noticed that there was always a man following the procession that returned to the palace. Xie Ke didn¡¯t expect things to turn out like this at all. During all this time, he had never found the opportunity to meet Zhiyu again. Now, too, the procession was too strictly guarded. With his current status and strength, it was not impossible to break through forcibly, but the trouble that would follow was more than he could handle now. Being back for so long, he had only come into contact with Zhiyu once that night, but Zhiyu was asleep and didn¡¯t even say a word. Xie Ke thought it would be okay to wait until Zhiyu felt better, but things didn¡¯t develop according to his memory. That bowl of medicine, Zhiyu was obviously aware of it in his previous life and escaped unscathed. Why did he drink it this time? Xie Ke still remembered the cold feeling in his body when he received the news. Since then, Longquan Temple had been under martial law and he could no longer enter Zhiyu¡¯s room at night. He could only see the imperial doctors coming to and going from the northern wing, each of them saying that the situation was not good. Listening to these words, he felt as if he had been plunged back into the memories that had caused him so much despair before; his heart ached and he couldn¡¯t breathe, his mind going blank. He must not let any more accidents happen in the future! Xie Ke followed the procession all the way. He didn¡¯t expect to have another chance to see Zhiyu now but was extremely afraid that something else would happen to him. When the procession slowly entered the palace, Xie Ke stared at the vermilion palace wall for a long time before turning around and leaving. It was not enough, he thought to himself. He had come back at this point in time, very critical and timely, but he was still too weak. Zhiyu was a prince; there was not enough to protect him and possess him in all his rightful glory. Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t know anything about it and he didn¡¯t plan to think about Xie Ke at this time. He had to set his life on the right track first. When he returned to the palace, he saw the emperor. Emperor Qingyuan, Fu Qingyan, was forty-five years old this year and still in good health. He looked like he was in his early thirties, and his appearance was considered very elegant. He had been the emperor for twenty years, and his aura was subtle and noble. At first glance, he really had the appearance of a great emperor. His affection for Concubine Yun was unmatchable. Fu Zhiyu looked very similar to Concubine Yun and was smart and intelligent. He had been favoured by the emperor from a young age. ¡°Why is Xiao Jiu (Little Nine) so thin?¡° When Emperor Qingyuan saw Fu Zhiyu, his face also showed a bit of distress, ¡°Father Emperor has already ordered people to investigate again, they must give an explanation.¡± The incident on the ice lake still could be said to be an accident, but if there was something wrong with the medicine Fu Zhiyu drank, then someone must have plotted against the prince. Fu Zhiyu gave Fu Rongli enough time to finish the job. Whether he could be found out by the emperor depended on his ability, but looking at the situation, if the clues couldn¡¯t be found at this point in time, then the chance of finding them later was very slim. Fu Zhiyu really didn¡¯t want Fu Rongli to be found out. If Concubine Xue¡¯s line fell, the stalemate between the Third Prince and the Crown Prince would be broken. With the Crown Prince¡¯s family dominating, his life would be difficult. Fu Zhiyu was thinking about this but there was a simple smile on his face as he said, ¡°I believe in Father Emperor.¡± Emperor Qingyuan looked at his smile, somewhat stunned. Imperial doctors had reported to him before, especially Dr. Chen, who was in charge of treating the Ninth Prince, saying that the Ninth Prince had been suffering from a high fever and the fever had caused some damage to the Ninth Prince¡¯s brain. Although it was not to the point of becoming a fool, the Ninth Prince was no longer as bright as before, and there was some damage to his memory. Of course, the words of the imperial doctors were more euphemistic, but Emperor Qingyuan could understand them. Seeing Xiao Jiu for the first time today, he didn¡¯t notice anything unusual at first, he just felt that the child had lost a lot of weight, but now that Fu Zhiyu smiled, the emperor felt something was wrong. Xiao Jiu was an early learner, he could write essays on political theories at the age of eight and could participate in disputes with the great scholars of the dynasty at the age of ten. In the aspect of talent, he was the first among the princes. With much wisdom comes much sorrow. Xiao Jiu hadn¡¯t smiled like this since he was ten years old. Such a smile was too¡­ mediocre? Emperor Qingyuan came up with such an adjective in his mind. This was a carefree smile that an ordinary teenager would show. It seemed that the things he encountered were nothing and he didn¡¯t worry about how to deal with them in the future. Xiao Jiu, he¡­ A trace of pity appeared in the emperor¡¯s heart for an instant, but his face didn¡¯t show anything. As if he was really just a loving father, he stroked Fu Zhiyu¡¯s head: ¡°Go and rest, get well, you¡¯ll be better soon.¡± Fu Zhiyu nodded obediently. There had to be a degree in pretending to be stupid. Fu Zhiyu knew that many people in the imperial palace had doubts about his brain being burnt out. At least the Crown Prince, a very suspicious person, couldn¡¯t believe it all at once. If he degenerated too badly at once, it would be a bit too much, and it would be too easy to reveal a flaw. It would also be too easy to be set up while having a hard time trying to maintain the persona. The gain wasn¡¯t worth the loss. It would be too predictable to play a fool. He just degenerated from an obvious genius to an ordinary person. CH 7 In fact, he didn¡¯t even need to act. During that time in the system space, Fu Zhiyu had changed a lot. In his previous life, he had lived in a state of tension since he was a child. With his identity and his feelings, even if he wanted to stop, he was riding a tiger. If he stopped, he would end up gnawed to the bone. Only after death did he get a real rest. Although the system space was not large, there were books full of information about various worlds. The Lord God and the systems enjoyed talking to him, and he could pick up something from what they said. Only then did Fu Zhiyu realise that life was actually much more extensive than he thought. The things he had been struggling with all his life before were just a passage in a book, and the ending was already predestined, so he didn¡¯t need to care too much. Everyone was just an insignificant speck of dust, Fu Zhiyu thought. With this clear understanding all he wanted was to live an easy life, no longer being an overly self-demanding prince and no longer interested in being a perpetual chaser of Xie Ke. Emperor Qingyuan kept paying attention to Fu Zhiyu¡¯s movements while talking to Concubine Yun. The boy was helped by a palace maid to lie down on a soft couch, with a book in his hand, but he didn¡¯t even read a few pages before he put it down. His eyes flickered and he reached for the fruit plate on the small table. He slowly ate a few pine nuts, still holding the book. Eating and reading at the same time, it took a long time for him to slowly turn a page. He was like a leisurely little squirrel. But Xiao Jiu was not like this before. Emperor Qingyuan thought that some of the subtle movements of people were difficult to fake. Xiao Jiu used to be extremely demanding of himself, and he would never be distracted when reading. Even if he was unwell, he wouldn¡¯t have such lazy moments. The inability to concentrate was probably the most fatal injury in the deterioration of a genius, Emperor Qingyuan thought sadly as he walked up to Fu Zhiyu again. ¡°What book are you reading?¡± He asked softly. ¡°A travelogue,¡± Fu Zhiyu obediently showed him the cover, ¡°It¡¯s quite interesting.¡± Emperor Qingyuan asked, ¡°I remember, before the great ceremony, you were reading ¡°The Theory of Resource Governance¡±. How was it? Did you have any insights?¡± Fu Zhiyu raised his head to look at him, blinked, showing some confusion, and said, ¡°¡­I (talking to the emperor, he uses ¡®¨¦rch¨¦n¡¯ ¨C child and subject ¨C as ¡®I¡¯) don¡¯t remember very clearly. I read it when I was recovering from illness at Longquan Temple, but¡­ I don¡¯t understand it very well.¡± The emperor lowered his head to look at the travelogue. Fu Zhiyu should have been reading it for a few days. Some simple notes were made on it, probably because the habit of reading books this way had not been lost. But when he looked at the small characters, the handwriting was much different from what it had been before. It seemed that Fu Zhiyu had lost his style and his writing was a bit shaky, far cry from being endowed with a natural beauty that nurtured talent before. The handwriting is the face of a literati, and this¡­ also degenerated too much. Fu Zhiyu knew that Emperor Qingyuan had noticed this. He hasn¡¯t practised changing his handwriting deliberately. The reason was actually very simple; it was because in his previous life in order to see Xie Ke he fell and injured his hand. When he approved memorials, his hand was often shaking and he didn¡¯t have much strength in it. His handwriting had changed a long time ago. Advertisements When Emperor Qingyuan saw this, he only sighed in his heart, but there was a gentle and kind smile on his face. He touched Fu Zhiyu¡¯s head and asked, ¡°Are pine nuts delicious?¡± Fu Zhiyu nodded. ¡°Let the Imperial Household Department send some more later,¡± Emperor Qingyuan said, ¡°Take good care of yourself.¡± After saying that, Emperor Qingyuan was ready to leave. Before he left, he sighed, turned around and took Concubine Yun¡¯s hand, adding, ¡°You have suffered.¡± Concubine Yun bowed and whispered, ¡°This concubine only asks for Zhiyu to be safe.¡± Concubine Yun was extremely beautiful. Even though she was no longer young, her every move still had the aura of the number one beauty in the capital. The beauty had tears in the corners of her eyes and the ends of her eyes were slightly red. Her exquisite palace dress made her look charming and elegant, yet she had a gentle and pitiful look about her. Emperor Qingyuan¡¯s heart softened. Although there were countless women in the harem, only the one in front of him was different to him. He and Yun¡¯er also used to¡­ Emperor Qingyuan sighed in his heart; his tone was even softer as he said, ¡°When I finish handling political affairs, I will come back to see you.¡± Concubine Yun nodded and watched the emperor leave. When the imperial guards had walked out of the palace gate, she took out her handkerchief and wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes, with no expression on her face. Fu Zhiyu watched his mother¡¯s face-changing process from the side and silently applauded his mother¡¯s acting skills in his heart. After Concubine Yun finished her performance, she waved away the palace maids to her left and right and walked to sit down next to Fu Zhiyu. He offered her a plate of peeled pine nuts on a silver tray, like a treasure. ¡°Just let the maid do this kind of thing,¡± Concubine Yun looked at the plate of white pine nuts, couldn¡¯t help laughing and took Fu Zhiyu¡¯s hand to take a closer look, ¡°You, he¡¯s already gone. Stop pretending if you don¡¯t want to and do what you want to do.¡± ¡°What I want to do now is to peel pine nuts for Mother Concubine,¡± Fu Zhiyu said with a smile. ¡°I know that Mother Concubine likes to eat them, so this is the most important thing.¡± ¡°I think you seem happy?¡± Concubine Yun asked while eating pine nuts one by one, ¡°At least you¡¯ve passed the emperor¡¯s hurdle. I think he is convinced.¡± ¡°Father Emperor?¡± Fu Zhiyu smiled, ¡°He is nothing.¡± In front of Concubine Yun, he had always been honest and dared to say even such rebellious things. But Fu Zhiyu was indeed happy, not because of the emperor but because he had just confirmed one thing. From the moment he learned that Xie Ke had been staying at Longquan Temple and refusing to leave, he had doubts in his heart. After all, Xie Ke didn¡¯t wait just for a day or two. Fu Zhiyu had fallen ill at Longquan Temple twice, which took more than ten days. Except for a few days in the middle, Xie Ke had been there all the time. According to the eunuchs guarding outside, Young Master Xie repeatedly tried to come to visit him. This was very strange. Xie Ke was the protagonist. According to the plot, it was absolutely impossible for him to stay there. It was very likely that he would be judged as being OOC and then be deducted points, because these actions seriously affected the plot. And Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t follow the actions of his previous life this time either. He played it differently but everything actually worked out the way he wanted it to, without a hitch. These things made him even more certain that this world was no longer a plot world, but a ¡°free world¡± that had been mentioned by the systems, the world not affected by the original book. Because all things come to an end, and so do the actors¡¯ missions, but after the end of the plot the world still exists, it just becomes ¡°a free world¡±, no longer subject to the nature of the plot, free to develop in all possible directions. If the world is still involved in the plot, even if the actor does not intervene, there is ¡°setting inertia¡± of the original plot. For example, in his previous life, Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t harm the noble lady in the palace and the child in her belly at the age of eight, as set in the book, but she had an accident and the child was lost all the same, and the palace still didn¡¯t find out who the perpetrator was. This noble lady had a bad temper and had offended too many people; anyone could do it. As another example, Fu Zhiyu still became the emperor. He was not as brutal as in the original book, but because of his laxity in ruling his officials and the discontent of the affected people he was still cursed as an incompetent emperor. In his previous life, although the plot was partially diverted due to him being different, it often had to return to the right track in the end. Although it was also the actor¡¯s merit, there was ¡°setting inertia¡± too, which to a certain extent kept the plot from deviating from the main line. When Fu Zhiyu was in the system space, he had heard from the Lord God that the mission of ¡°His Name Will Live On in History¡± had been completed and that Xie Ke¡¯s actor had scored very high. At that time he had already been in the Lord God¡¯s space for a long time, so when he heard this news, he felt that it was expected. Advertisements A world that had completed its mission would become independent, become a ¡±free world¡±, not subject to the supervision of the Lord God. It was reasonable to say that it was impossible for any more actors to enter it. But the world of ¡°His Name Will Live On in History¡± was rebooted. If it was rebooted, it was rebooted. Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t care why the actor Xie Ke did this. Anyway, he was back. What he cared about was that a ¡°free world¡± that had completed the mission would not revert to the mission world even if it was rebooted, and the mission would not be re-released again. Xie Ke¡¯s abnormality and his own attempts had almost verified this. This was indeed a ¡°free world¡±, and Xie Ke was most likely no longer an ¡°actor¡±. He just held the identity of the protagonist. The world was no longer affected by the inertia of the plot, and there was a lot of room to play. Then at least it was likely very possible to save his mother¡¯s life and prevent her from dying as described in the book. This was one of the things Fu Zhiyu was the happiest about since his rebirth. He knew that his mother was extremely confused as to why he had to play dumb at this time. He did have a chance in the fight for the throne, especially now that the plot was free. In his previous life he had been able to fight back and defeat the Crown Prince without preliminary knowledge, so if he wanted to fight this time, it would only be easier. But it was not that he hadn¡¯t been the emperor before. When Fu Zhiyu remembered it now, he only felt that those days were extremely painful. He suffered himself and brought pain to the people. He and Fu Zhiyu¡¯s character in the original book were two extremes, one was too cruel and the other was too gentle. In terms of his talent as an emperor, let alone Xie Ke, he was not even comparable to today¡¯s Emperor Qingyuan. It was the fault of the emperor that he couldn¡¯t control his subjects. He was not suitable for the throne, and there was no need to fight. Besides, even if this was a free world, Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t think that any emperor could beat Xie Ke. The two sides were just not at the same level. If Xie Ke kept his system, the difference would be even more dramatic. He was one of the top three players in terms of points, and there were so many things that could be redeemed for points in the system. Now that there were no restrictions from the plot, anything received from the system could be a devastating blow. Maybe without the plot restrictions, the Fu imperial family would be finished even faster. In the evening, Fu Zhiyu lay down early and was about to fall asleep. Suddenly, he heard a voice calling his name softly like a thief: ¡°Zhiyu, Zhiyu, can you hear me?¡± Fu Zhiyu was taken aback and subconsciously replied: ¡°Who?¡± The palace maid on the side heard it and was about to step forward but was stopped by Fu Zhiyu with a wave of his hand. ¡°You go out.¡± He said, ¡°I don¡¯t need anyone to serve here.¡± He recognised whose voice it was; the words directly sounded in his mind. ¡°Lord God?¡± He replied softly, ¡°How did you get here?¡± ¡°You don¡¯t need to speak, we both can communicate in our brains,¡± the Lord God said. ¡°I had a hard time getting this chance to come, I don¡¯t know how long this opening will last.¡± ¡°Is this world now in the state of a free world?¡± As soon as Fu Zhiyu heard this, he quickly asked the question he wanted to ask most, ¡°I¡¯m fine, I¡¯m doing good.¡± ¡°Did you find out? Indeed it is,¡± the Lord God sighed, ¡°This world is made very strange by Xie Ke. I don¡¯t even know how he did it¡­ The mission of ¡°His Name Will Live on in History¡± was a super high-level task. He did that, and now it has become a fixed part of the entire system. It¡¯s a time bomb, only temporarily stable. Zhiyu, I¡¯ve treated you well. Can you do me a favour and ensure that the world will not be collapsed by Xie Ke? Otherwise we¡¯ll be in a difficult situation.¡± The Lord God did treat him well and taught him a lot of things. Fu Zhiyu agreed after thinking about it, and said, ¡°I will do my best.¡± ¡°Has he done anything strange to you recently?¡± After hearing his promise, the Lord God breathed a sigh of relief, and added, ¡°If he does, you can beat him up.¡± Fu Zhiyu said honestly: ¡°I can¡¯t beat him.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not necessarily true,¡° the Lord God said. ¡°You are different from others. You are a bug that has been in the Lord God¡¯s space for a long time. I have detected that you have mutated.¡± ¡°¡­It doesn¡¯t sound like something good.¡± ¡°You have to believe that I won¡¯t screw you,¡± the Lord God said. ¡°You¡­¡± Fu Zhiyu was ready to listen, but as soon as the Lord God got to the point, there was no sound, probably because the opening was closed, forcing it to go offline. Mutated? Fu Zhiyu had been back for more than ten days, and he hadn¡¯t felt any changes in his body. Or maybe he had tossed himself around before he had time to feel it. He won¡¯t suddenly grow any ears or a tail, right? He became frightened for the first time after being reborn. CH 8 Not far from Concubine Yun¡¯s Liuli Palace was Concubine Xue¡¯s Linyue Tower. Unlike the elegant style of Liuli Palace, Linyue Tower was the most luxurious place in the whole imperial palace, glowing like gold when you looked at it from a distance. Concubine Xue was lying on the couch, and the two palace maids were massaging her feet carefully. She was a few years older than Concubine Yun, and there were already a few crow¡¯s feet in the corners of her eyes, but she was born wealthy and those wrinkles did not detract from her aura of nobility. She looked like a divine concubine, a big red peony flower, bright in colour and full of heavenly fragrance, the real flower symbolising wealth in the world. ¡°Really stupid?¡± The Third Prince standing by her side asked in a low voice. He was slowly painting a landscape in front of him, never raising his head, his expression very calm. Emperor Qingyuan Fu Qingyan was a good-looking man and the concubines in the harem didn¡¯t look worse, so all the princes were also good-looking. Fu Rongye inherited the deep facial features of Concubine Xue, gorgeous in women and outstanding in men. He was four years older than Fu Zhiyu, and now he was twenty years old. He could do many things, including placing spies in other palaces. It didn¡¯t go well in Liuli Palace. Concubine Yun was extremely vigilant. Her close palace maids had been following her since before entering the palace. Fu Rongye took a lot of effort but could only arrange a single eunuch on the periphery. But it was better than nothing; especially after Concubine Yun returned to the palace, every movement there was very important. ¡°Really. Rumours are that even his handwriting has changed and is nowhere as good as it was before. The current Ninth Prince can no longer afford the name of ¡®a great talent¡¯.¡± ¡°Did he really peel the pine nuts for that woman Yuan Wanyun all afternoon?¡± Concubine Xue propped up her face and interjected again, asking the undercover eunuch, ¡°What was Yuan Wanyun¡¯s expression?¡± Yuan Wanyun was the real name of Concubine Yun. The eunuch thought hard for a while and said, ¡°Concubine Yun looked¡­ very happy? She was smiling all the time.¡± ¡°She thinks everything her son does is good. Fu Zhiyu is her treasure,¡± Concubine Xue sneered, ¡°It¡¯s like this on the surface, but behind the scene one can only imagine how she cries.¡± The eunuch hurriedly said, ¡°Yes, yes, I see Concubine Yun¡¯s eyes are all red, and the redness isn¡¯t going away.¡± Concubine Xue was even more happy after hearing this. She covered her mouth and smiled a few times, saying, ¡°Serves her right!¡± The Third Prince, however, frowned, put down the brush in his hand and asked again: ¡°What about Fu Zhiyu?¡± ¡°The Ninth Prince, he¡­¡± The eunuch searched his mind and came up with a little description, ¡°doesn¡¯t say much, lost some weight and is quieter than before. The rest is fine. They all say that the Ninth Prince is stupid, but this slave doesn¡¯t think he is stupid. It¡¯s just that no matter what he does, he takes his time, as if there is nothing that can make him anxious.¡± ¡°Stupidity is not just idiocy of children with crooked mouths and skewed eyes. If the brain of a person like Fu Zhiyu is damaged, even if he just reacts a little slower, for him, it is stupidity,¡± Fu Rongye said. ¡°Go back and keep watching. If there is anything, come back to report.¡± The eunuch bowed and withdrew. Advertisements ¡°Why didn¡¯t Ye¡¯er smile when he heard this,¡± Concubine Xue turned to look at her son, ¡°This is a great thing.¡± Fu Rongye glanced at his mother concubine and didn¡¯t say anything. He just lowered his head and finished the last stroke of his painting. He picked up the paper and dried the ink on it. This was a well-drawn landscape, with green hills and the red sun rising, but Fu Rongye glanced at it and threw it into the paper basket on the side. Concubine Xue couldn¡¯t understand it. How could he throw away the landscape that he had worked so hard on all morning? She motioned to the maid to pick it up and show it to her. ¡°Isn¡¯t this good?¡± Concubine Xue took a closer look, ¡°Who angered you again?¡± ¡°It¡¯s not as good as the one that Fu Zhiyu painted when he was thirteen years old. When Father Emperor saw it, he praised it several times. It¡¯s still hanging in Father Emperor¡¯s study,¡± Fu Rongye said, ¡°Throw it away.¡± When he said this, Concubine Xue also became angry and asked the maid to put the painting aside, saying, ¡°Why do you mention this?¡± Fu Rongye didn¡¯t answer, but turned to the person by his side and said, ¡°Bring the Eighth Prince in.¡± Eighth Prince Fu Rongli had been ordered by the emperor to retreat and study during the great ceremony without going out, but the great ceremony had been over for a long time and the Eighth Prince was still honestly in seclusion. Fu Rongli, who was brought in, saw Fu Rongye at first glance, and his whole body trembled. He was really afraid of his biological brother, born to the same father and the same mother, more afraid than of the emperor. All the palace staff went out under Fu Rongye¡¯s instructions, leaving only the three of them. Advertisements Concubine Xue sensed that something was wrong with the atmosphere. She beckoned her youngest son to come over, stretched out her hand and touched Fu Rongli¡¯s face, saying in distress: ¡°Look at our Li¡¯er. He has been studying so hard and lost weight. Mother Concubine will make the kitchen stew a pot of nourishing soup later¡­¡± ¡°Nourishing soup?¡± Fu Rongye sneered, ¡°Is he worthy of drinking it?¡± Concubine Xue became a little angry and said, ¡°Ye¡¯er! Why are you talking like this? Li¡¯er is your own brother!¡± Fu Rongye didn¡¯t care what Concubine Xue said and had just four words for Fu Rongli: ¡°Come here, kneel down.¡± Fu Rongli didn¡¯t dare to resist and immediately knelt down. ¡°Do you know what you did wrong?¡± Concubine Xue also stood up, her voice raised a little: ¡°Li¡¯er didn¡¯t do anything wrong! He was successful both times, and the final result is excellent. Now that His Majesty hasn¡¯t found out, it can be considered seamless. He solved this concubine¡¯s hatred of many years. His only omission was that he didn¡¯t discuss it with you and me before, but compared to the result, what does it matter? Will there be such a good opportunity to strike in the future?¡± Fu Rongye¡¯s eyes were gloomy as he asked, ¡°Do you also think that things are just like Mother Concubine says? You seamlessly harmed your rival since childhood, very clever, right?¡± Fu Rongli, full of desire to survive, shook his head frantically. Fu Rongye walked up to him, pinched his chin and forced him to look up: ¡°The first time you did it, you didn¡¯t tell me. The second time you did it, you still didn¡¯t tell me. It wasn¡¯t until Father Emperor realised that something was wrong and started to investigate that you panicked and confessed to me. I could only wrap it up for you in a hurry, but do you know? It was just one step away, just one step away! One moment I cleaned up the traces you left in the Imperial Hospital, and the next moment Father Emperor¡¯s people were there. If I was one step late, you would be found out. What should Mother Concubine, I and the entire Xue family do then? I have come this far, cautious all the time, for fear that if I make a mistake, I will fall from a high place to the abyss. You are capable, so much bolder than me, just because of a moment of jealousy!¡± Fu Rongli looked his brother straight in the eye, and now his body was not shaking. Then he lowered his head and said in a muffled voice, ¡°I know I was wrong, please punish me, Brother.¡± Concubine Xue looked at the whip that Fu Rongye turned to take from the shelf and had a bad feeling in her heart. ¡°Li¡¯er already knows that he is wrong, it is fine to punish him, but isn¡¯t this a bit too harsh?¡± ¡°It¡¯s not too harsh,¡± Fu Rongli said at this moment, ¡°Please punish me, Brother.¡± Fu Rongye used all his strength for twenty lashes with a barbed whip. Fu Rongli¡¯s upper body was bloodied and bruised, but he didn¡¯t utter a word. When the whipping was finished, he struggled and said with the last bit of consciousness, ¡°Fu¡­ Fu Zhiyu is cunning, I don¡¯t believe it, I don¡¯t believe it, he won¡¯t be so easy¡­¡± Before he finished speaking, he fainted. ¡°Wipe away the tears,¡± Fu Rongye said to Concubine Xue without looking at her, his face gloomy, ¡°I have already called Dr. Hu. He won¡¯t die. If he didn¡¯t suffer this time, he would easily forget. Fu Zhiyu¡­ I will check it again. There¡¯s no hurry, let¡¯s talk about it when the storm passes.¡± No matter what the outside world did or thought, Fu Zhiyu slept peacefully for a night. Instead of waiting for the ¡°mutation¡± that the Lord God mentioned, he waited for an uninvited guest. ¡°I¡¯ve come to see Xiao Jiu,¡± he heard the man¡¯s voice as soon as he woke up, only to feel goose bumps rise all over his body uncontrollably, as if he was having a nightmare, ¡°¡­It¡¯s fine, Xiao Jiu is recovering from a serious illness, it¡¯s better for him to sleep a little longer. I¡¯ll wait here, no need to bother him.¡± It was the Crown Prince, Fu Lingxiao. Fu Zhiyu was instantly awake. CH 9 Fu Zhiyu had lived in the shadow of this man for a long time in his previous life. He greatly deviated from the setting of the original book, so it became extremely difficult to deal with this kind of enemy. Later, he fumbled around and almost lost his life in the struggle. Only then did he pull himself together and gradually gain some advantages. However, in the original text, Fu Zhiyu and Fu Lingxiao were truly equal opponents, the same kind of people, with a bodhisattva¡¯s face and a snake¡¯s heart, extremely good at disguising themselves. Fu Zhiyu in the original text still was genuine sometimes, but this man completely lived under the mask. His appearance and his heart were too different, so he was very difficult to deal with. But things have changed now. ¡°Help me dress.¡± Fu Zhiyu got up from the bed and said to the palace maid at his bedside who immediately came closer in response. He was just a poor sick man now, so he should do whatever he needed to do. Fu Zhiyu got dressed slowly. The weather was cold. He also put on a white fox fur, looking like a white fluffy dumpling. Fu Lingxiao was more difficult to deal with than Fu Rongye, and the people he had placed here were more useful than Fu Rongye¡¯s people. For example, the maid who just helped Fu Zhiyu dress was Fu Lingxiao¡¯s person, much closer than the eunuch from Fu Rongye, and the information the Crown Prince got should also be theoretically more detailed. Fu Zhiyu had known about it a long time ago, and even Concubine Yun had noticed, but they didn¡¯t do anything. This kind of a spy had an unexpected effect. In the previous life and now, the spy could convey the information you wanted them to convey. Thinking of this, Fu Zhiyu stepped out of the door of his bedchamber and then showed a simple, harmless smile. ¡°Crown Prince Brother,¡± he greeted, ¡°How come you have time to visit me?¡± Fu Lingxiao was sitting in the hall, drinking tea. His appearance was not outstanding among the princes, but his features were soft and he looked very kind. He spoke gently, as if he was incapable of getting angry. ¡°I¡¯m late, I should have come yesterday,¡± Fu Lingxiao waved his hand with a smile, as if he was really a kind brother, ¡°Xiao Jiu, come, sit down first. This snack was specially made by the imperial kitchen. It¡¯s your favourite.¡± Fu Zhiyu looked down at a whole plate of abalone pastries. This snack was delicious, but greasy. Fu Zhiyu usually liked to eat one or two pieces, but he had just recovered from a serious illness, so it was not suitable for him to eat this. Fu Lingxiao was really Fu Lingxiao; he enjoyed making things difficult for him as soon as he arrived. ¡°Did I like this before?¡± Fu Zhiyu sat down and pushed the abalone pastries on the table forward, ¡°I don¡¯t remember very clearly. I can¡¯t help it, the doctor said that there is some serious memory damage, and it¡¯s a great blessing that I can remember Crown Prince Brother nowadays.¡± Fu Lingxiao¡¯s smile froze for a moment. Advertisements But he quickly pulled himself together and continued: ¡°When I heard in the palace that Xiao Jiu had an accident, just like Father Emperor, I was very worried and anxious. I went to Mother Empress¡¯s Buddha hall to ask for a peace talisman. Father Emperor is investigating this matter and will see it to the end. I don¡¯t know who in the palace has such a vicious heart, Xiao Jiu is so smart and cute, how could someone harm him!¡± Fu Zhiyu felt goose bumps rising on his arms, instantly understanding Fu Lingxiao¡¯s intention of coming here. Fu Lingxiao didn¡¯t believe that he was really stupid. This man was extremely suspicious. He thought Fu Zhiyu was pretending, and he suspected that the reason why Fu Zhiyu pretended was that he felt that he was not yet able to take down the person who had harmed him and had to show weakness temporarily. Sure enough, Fu Lingxiao¡¯s next sentence came. He stretched out his hand and stroked Fu Zhiyu¡¯s head, asking, ¡°Is there anyone Xiao Jiu has offended in the palace? Crown Prince Brother will definitely help you take the revenge, so as not to let these bad guys go unpunished and defile the palace.¡± He had even guessed that it was most likely the Eighth Prince who did it. Only this one had such a grudge against Fu Zhiyu and also had the ability and motivation. But cleaning up the traces before the emperor¡¯s investigation was probably impossible without the credit of the Third Prince. Fu Zhiyu could almost imagine Fu Lingxiao¡¯s thoughts. The man was as excited as a wolf smelling blood. He wanted to be the winner of this fight between the snipe and the clam(1), overthrowing the Xue family in one fell swoop just like in the previous life. But now Fu Lingxiao, just like the emperor, had not had any strong evidence, so he came here to help things happen by his own hand. It would be better if Fu Zhiyu had clues or evidence, but even if he really didn¡¯t, if he, the victim, accused the Eighth Prince, Fu LIngxiao would also be able to do a great deal as the Crown Prince. The two princes of the Xue family would lose a layer of skin and it would greatly improve the current stalemate between him and Fu Rongye. But Fu Zhiyu was not going to play this game. ¡°Crown Prince Brother, what are you talking about?¡± Fu Zhiyu tilted his head and blinked, ¡°Father Emperor told me that he hadn¡¯t found out anything. In fact, I think it might be just an accident. Everyone in the palace is very nice, how could they harm me? Mother Concubine also told me that she was already overjoyed when she saw me wake up. Although I forgot some things, Mother Concubine says that she is happy, so I am happy.¡± ¡°Xiao Jiu¡­¡± Advertisements ¡°I¡¯m going to tell Father Emperor not to pursue it anymore. It makes people in the palace panic. Several palace maids around me have been punished for this matter. If Mother Concubine hadn¡¯t stopped it, some imperial doctors would have been hit with a rod. In fact, what does it have to do with them? It was just my carelessness,¡± Fu Zhiyu interrupted the Crown Prince¡¯s words and then delivered his own holier-than-thou speech. He sighed softly, looked up at the sky outside, his eyes empty, and tried hard to channel the Empress Dowager¡¯s spirit, finally adding, ¡°Let bygones be bygones. Now that things have gotten so big, I just feel guilty.¡± Fu Lingxiao was so confused by him that he didn¡¯t speak for a long time. Probably he was fooled by Fu Zhiyu¡¯s saintly stance; for a moment, he wondered if this person was really stupid. If it weren¡¯t for a brain problem, how could someone say such a thing? Fu Zhiyu had to have an ulterior motive for making such a big show and playing dumb. The Crown Prince originally thought that he was advancing by retreating. Who knew that this one retreated and then retreated again, without any bottom line. It was useless to pretend to be a pig to eat a tiger in this palace (pretend to be weak to defeat the enemy); the opportunity was too fleeting. Concubine Yun and Concubine Xue had been at odds for a long time. Although Concubine Xue¡¯s family was prominent, the emperor was biassed, and at every important juncture it was Concubine Yun who won. Now that Liuli Palace actively revealed its weaknesses and didn¡¯t fight back, the situation was really unpredictable. Fu Lingxiao felt that he had enough of the sanctimonious talk, but Fu Zhiyu was still going on. ¡°Mother Concubine also begged for the peace talisman at Longquan Temple. It¡¯s very effective,¡± Fu Zhiyu pulled out a red rope with a wooden sign on it. ¡°I brought this for Crown Prince Brother. I hope Crown Prince Brother will meet less illness and less disasters.¡± Of course, this thing was different from the one that Concubine Yun begged for for Fu Zhiyu. This was made in bulk at Longquan Temple. At the end of the year, it would be distributed to the people together with the alms. When Fu Zhiyu left the temple, he grabbed it casually, and now it came handy. Look what a kind, innocent and lovely child I am. Fu Zhiyu looked at the sky, immersed in the play, and somewhat understood the refreshing feeling of his mother concubine every time she finished acting. At least for now, Fu Lingxiao should be quite disgusted. Fu Lingxiao¡¯s smile was already a little stiff. Holding the rough peace talisman was like holding a hot potato, and he left after sitting for a short while. Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t eat the plate of abalone pastries, rewarding it to the palace maid next to him. He made himself a cup of tea and sat down by the window. Outside, it was beginning to snow. Fu Zhiyu reached out and caught a snowflake, watching it slowly melt in his hand. Concubine Yun arrived in a hurry at this time and asked him with bated breath as soon as she came in, ¡°I heard that the Crown Prince just came? Did he give you a hard time?¡± Fu Zhiyu shook his head and asked rhetorically: ¡°Is Father Emperor still coming tonight?¡± ¡°¡­He¡¯s coming.¡± ¡°Tonight, please help me delay him for a while. I have something to tell him,¡± Fu Zhiyu said, bowing his head and taking another sip of tea, ¡°You have to do a full set of acting.¡± Concubine Yun frowned and asked, ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± Fu Zhiyu helped her sit down, patted her hand soothingly and said, ¡±Let me talk to Mother Concubine slowly.¡± Concubine Yun touched his hand, only to feel that his hand was cold, and asked, ¡°Why is your hand so cold?¡± ¡°It¡¯s snowing outside. I stretched out my hand and touched the snow,¡± Fu Zhiyu said. His voice gradually became smaller as he murmured, ¡°If I remember correctly, this is the last snow this winter.¡± CH 10 The emperor stayed in Liuli Palace for a long time and also had dinner with Consort Yun. After dinner, Consort Yun played the guqin, and Emperor Qingyuan looked through the memorials sitting by her side but didn¡¯t pay much attention to the documents. He often raised his head to look at Consort Yun with a smile at the corner of his mouth. ¡°We (he uses ¡®zh¨¨n¡¯, imperial ¡®we¡¯) remember, you used to play the qin in the courtyard. The sound of the qin was so nice. The birds didn¡¯t chirp in the trees, only listening to the sound of your qin,¡± he said. ¡°Now the qin of Beloved Consort is getting better and better.¡± Consort Yun lowered her head and smiled, but didn¡¯t answer. Her fair neck looked very beautiful under the gentle light, so lovely you couldn¡¯t take your eyes off it. Emperor Qingyuan felt a little emotional, put down the memorial, walked up to her, covered her hand and asked, ¡°Why are your hands so cold?¡± ¡°It¡¯s snowing today,¡± Consort Yun smiled and turned to her personal palace maid, ¡°Caiyan, go to the Ninth Prince¡¯s house and tell the eunuchs over there to add more charcoal so as the Ninth Prince doesn¡¯t catch a cold.¡± Emperor Qingyuan also added: ¡°Xiao Jiu is recovering from a serious illness, you all need to serve him carefully. I will have the eunuch in charge of the Imperial Household Department come and take a look tomorrow and add some things around.¡± After speaking, he swept Consort Yun over and asked in a low voice; ¡°How is Xiao Jiu¡¯s health lately?¡± ¡°His body is almost completely healed, but¡­¡± Consort Yun sighed, ¡°Now this concubine has nothing else to ask for, it is a great thing that Zhiyu is safe.¡± Emperor Qingyuan hugged her tightly, sighed and said, ¡°Xiao Jiu is our child, we have¡­ always regarded him differently. Now¡­¡± Before he finished speaking, the eunuch outside announced in a shrill voice: ¡°Ninth Prince requests an audience.¡± ¡°Tell him to come in,¡± Emperor Qingyuan said quickly, ¡°It¡¯s cold outside, don¡¯t let him freeze.¡± Fu Zhiyu came in and was told to sit down by Emperor Qingyuan as soon as he saluted. ¡°You look a little better,¡± Emperor QingYuan looked at him, ¡°you still need to recuperate more.¡± Fu Zhiyu lowered his head and smiled, then said, ¡°It is because Dr. Chen has put a lot of effort during this time. Today, he arranged with the kitchen to make a medicinal meal, which is much better than the medicinal soup.¡± ¡°He¡¯s making up for his mistakes,¡± Emperor Qingyuan said, ¡°He didn¡¯t pay attention before, so he let our son suffer so much.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not Dr. Chen¡¯s fault¡­¡± ¡°It was our oversight,¡° Emperor Qingyuan sighed for a long time and clenched Consort Yun¡¯s hand. ¡°The investigation hasn¡¯t found anything yet. These people in the Imperial Court of Judicial Review are really getting more and more useless.¡± Advertisements After hearing this, Fu Zhiyu got up from his chair, knelt in front of Emperor Qingyuan, looked up at him and said, ¡°I came to Father Emperor today to talk about this matter. The investigation has been going on for so long now and no results have been found. On the contrary, because of me, everyone in the palace is in danger. Today, Crown Prince Brother took time out of his busy schedule to visit me, for fear that I might have suffered some grievances. It was my fault for being unfilial, for causing trouble that bothered Crown Prince Brother, Mother Consort and even Father Emperor. It was my fault for tossing this palace for so long. Therefore, I come to beg Father Emperor to stop and let this matter pass.¡± ¡°Xiao Jiu, you¡­¡± Emperor Qingyuan was speechless for a while, then looked at Consort Yun and asked, ¡°Do you think so too?¡± Consort Yun remained silent for just the right period of time, only lowering her head and shedding tears, burying her head in the chest of Emperor Qingyuan. She really looked like a kind and sad mother. ¡°Xiao Jiu, don¡¯t you really want to know who tried to kill you?¡± ¡°At first I did, but now I don¡¯t dwell on it anymore,¡± Fu Zhiyu showed his saintly smile, the same expression he had used for the Crown Prince, as if copy pasting it, ¡°Before leaving Longquan Temple, I went to visit the abbot and asked if there was any sin on me, otherwise why should I suffer this calamity? The abbot said that everything starts with fate, and nothing is left to chance. Suffering is just a passing shadow, and only when you let go of it can you be at ease. After I returned to the palace, I felt that I had walked through the Gate of the Ghosts once, and that my mind had changed and my heart had been opened. I am grateful to Father Emperor for caring about his son and ordering people to strictly investigate this matter. But now I already let it go, so I boldly ask Father Emperor to let it go as well.¡± Fu Zhiyu talked nonsense with his eyes wide open but Emperor Qingyuan listened to him. Fu Zhiyu chose this time to say these words not because the Crown Prince had come today, but because he felt that the time was ripe and he needed to find a way for Emperor Qingyuan to step down gracefully. The Imperial Court of Judicial Review received the imperial order and searched vigorously for so long, turning the Imperial Hospital upside down, as well as the courtyards of some concubines. The people in the palace were not only horrified but also aggrieved, yet there was no tangible evidence and it was really impossible to convict anyone. Fu Zhiyu estimated that if this continued, the Imperial Court of Judicial Review would have to find a random person to take the blame, not only for the emperor, but for the entire palace. This was not what Fu Zhiyu wanted to see. Now that some time had passed, Emperor Qingyuan¡¯s anger had also passed. He actually knew in his heart that the clues had been cleaned up and there was no point in pursuing it any further. There were not many people in the palace who could do such a thing under his nose. The harem part interlinked with the previous dynasty was certainly involved, but although he knew that in his mind, there was no evidence in his hand, so there was really no way to convict these people. If a scapegoat were to be found, Emperor Qingyuan would probably feel uneasy in his heart. The court had also been quiet during this period and the certain part of the harem had been docile, so no matter how you put it, Emperor Qingyuan was not without gain. All he needed was a good reason to end it all, and it was the right time for Fu Zhiyu to speak up, to give the emperor an excuse, to give him an outlet to vent his anger, and to save the emperor¡¯s face. ¡°Xiao Jiu, get up quickly,¡± Emperor Qingyuan¡¯s face softened and he personally came over to help Fu Zhiyu up. ¡°Every time, Liuli Palace understands my heart best. Don¡¯t worry, I will never treat you mother and son badly.¡± Fu Zhiyu pretended not to understand what he meant but just lowered his head with a well-behaved smile. Advertisements The next day, the emperor issued a decree, saying that the Ninth Prince had a benevolent heart and Consort Yun was generous and courteous, kind and virtuous. With that, the matter was considered to be over. However, along with this decree, there were two other decrees. One named Consort Yun as the Imperial Noble Consort, and the other bestowed the title of Wang upon Fu Zhiyu(1). He was rewarded with a generous estate and the name ¡°Zhao¡± (zh¨¡o = bright, clear). ¡°¡­This is double happiness. You will be Wang Zhao from now on,¡± the eunuch who announced the decrees smiled like a chrysanthemum, ¡°It¡¯s just that Wang Zhao¡¯s residence has not been repaired yet. His Majesty specially ordered that the best house in the capital was selected to be worthy of the identity of Wang Zhao. The house has not been occupied for a while, though, and the craftsmen will have to repair it. Apologies for asking Wang Zhao to live in the palace for a while longer.¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine, I also happen to enjoy staying with Mother Consort.¡± Fu Zhiyu smiled and rewarded the old eunuch with some gold. The old eunuch led the people away. Fu Zhiyu looked at the two imperial decrees and said nothing for a long time. Emperor Qingyuan had many descendants, but they had never been given the title of Wang. Even the Third Prince who was already intervening in some political affairs with the emperor¡¯s acquiescence and even had a mansion outside had never been named a Wang. Fu Zhiyu was still the first. Although there was no fief for the Wang now, the identity of the Wang was very different from that of a simple prince. Emperor Qingyuan was actually a bit like the Crown Prince in being very suspicious. While cultivating these princes to choose a satisfactory successor from them, he didn¡¯t dare to delegate too much power, fearing that the struggle between the princes would be too great and he would not be able to control it and end up harming himself. He had been maintaining a delicate balance and didn¡¯t want to break it. Just like in his previous life, when Fu Zhiyu relied on the Eighth Prince¡¯s actions to take down the two princes of the Xue family, the Crown Prince was not the only one who helped. The emperor also had that intention. The Xue family became increasingly powerful, both in the court and in the harem. The emperor used his power to suppress it and return the balance to the position he wanted. Therefore, no matter how much Emperor Qingyuan liked Consort Yun, he didn¡¯t easily promote her. In his previous life, it was when Fu Zhiyu was temporarily overpowered by the Crown Prince that Emperor Qingyuan found a reason to promote Consort Yun to become the Imperial Noble Consort, and also used the empress¡¯s ill health as an excuse to let Consort Yun take charge of the affairs of the harem. But at that time, he was also less sincere and more utilitarian. But now it was different. Fu Zhiyu¡¯s brain was damaged. Whether others believed it or not, the emperor believed it. He had lost a smart prince. It was sad, yes, but it didn¡¯t matter. The last thing the emperor lacked was a smart child. There were enough smart children in the palace. Emperor Qingyuan had just discovered something that made him happier. He could finally pamper his favourite woman in the palace unscrupulously, without worrying about the balance tilting. Consort Yun¡¯s family was not prominent, her father being just a third-rank imperial envoy. Fu Zhiyu¡¯s brain was no longer good, and he was kind but not intelligent enough. He was like a tiger cub, degenerated into a beautiful cat that would never grow the claws and teeth to hurt anyone. Fu Zhiyu hadn¡¯t expected this when he first started planning, but now that it happened, he knew very well in his heart that the matter of being named the Wang didn¡¯t actually have too much to do with whether he was stupid or not. Even if others were eight hundred times as stupid, they woulddn¡¯t have this treatment. In the entire palace, only his mother consort could make Emperor Qingyuan go this far. CH 11 After receiving the decree, Consort Yun smiled in front of people, but later, she was the same as Fu Zhiyu, without the slightest expression on her face, as if she was caught in some memories. Fu Zhiyu looked very distressed; he slowly moved over and reached out to hold his mother in his arms. ¡°Xiaobao,¡± Consort Yun gently called his nickname, ¡°What is going on?¡± ¡°Mother Consort doesn¡¯t have to think too much,¡± Fu Zhiyu said soothingly, ¡°If he gives something, just enjoy the benefits, and I¡¯ll do the rest.¡± When Fu Zhiyu put his plan into action, he didn¡¯t expect this to happen. For him, it was a complete surprise. Although it also placed him in the limelight in the palace, the matter of being named the Wang was considered good news. He would have more options in the future. All these things were an unpredictable butterfly effect because of his choice at the beginning, but the person he wanted to protect in his life remained the same. Fu Zhiyu hugged his mother tightly and comforted her: ¡°It¡¯s fine, it¡¯s fine, there¡¯s me.¡± ¡°Xiaobao,¡± Consort Yun grasped his sleeve tightly, ¡°When will I be able to truly get out of all this, as you said?¡± Fu Zhiyu clenched her hand and said softly, ¡°Soon, I will take Mother Consort with me. At that time, whether it is a Jiangnan town by the water or any other place, Mother Consort can go wherever she wants and do whatever she wants.¡± His mother consort was originally the legitimate wife of Fu Qingyan. Of course, that was before Fu Qingyan became Emperor Qingyuan. More than twenty years ago, Emperor Chenyang, Fu Heng, ascended the throne. In terms of seniority, he was Fu Zhiyu¡¯s uncle and Fu Qingyan¡¯s elder cousin. The young emperor¡¯s ascension to the throne was extremely smooth, as his father was particularly devoted and the empress at the time enjoyed the exclusive favour of the harem, giving birth to one son and two daughters. Fu Heng, being the only son, was the Crown Prince since his birth and had a smooth ride to become the emperor without incident. Fu Heng was not stupid, he was well read and talented. It was just that he had lived happily since he was a child, and his nature was really simple. After the death of his father emperor, he couldn¡¯t hold down the powerful families of the ministers around him. Soon after, he got an ¡°acute illness¡± and passed away. However, the country cannot be left without a monarch for a single day. If the ministers directly usurped the throne, it wouldn¡¯t look justified in the eyes of people. Moreover, Fu Heng¡¯s methods in the past few years of governing the country had been gentle, taxes had been greatly reduced, and the weather had been smooth. The people¡¯s evaluation of him was very good, and the common folk even took the initiative to set up temples to worship him. Forcibly changing dynasties would likely be harshly criticised by the world. The imperial Fu family had been in decline for several generations. Emperor Chenyang had not left any children, and after his lineage had been extinguished, the only one left in the imperial family was Wang Rong, Fu Hui. Advertisements Wang Rong had a crippled leg and a scar on his face because he had been on the battlefield. He was really not suitable to be the emperor. He had two sons, the second son Fu Qingbin born from the main wife, and Fu Qingyan, the eldest son. The two were three years apart, one seventeen and the other twenty. Fu Qingyan was already married for more than a year at that time, and married to Yuan Wanyun, the young lady of the Yuan family. In terms of talent, development potential and all other aspects, Fu Qingyan, as a concubine¡¯s son, was not comparable to the strong-willed Fu Qingbin. But in the end, Fu Qingyan won. The reason was actually very simple. Everyone knew how Fu Heng died. Those families looking for candidates for the position of emperor didn¡¯t really want to find a perfect emperor; they were looking for a puppet. At that time, Fu Qingyan looked like a poor scholar. Compared with the smart and outgoing Fu Qingbin, he was simply the best candidate for a puppet. Just marry him to a woman from your own family and wait for him to give birth to the crown prince who will be completely controlled by the family, and that¡¯s it. As for the matter of being already married, it was all trivial. The Yuan family was nothing more than that of a fourth-rank official. How could they have the ability to resist? In this way, Fu Qingyan was transformed, becoming the emperor in yellow robes. He married the daughter of General Lin as the Empress, and the daughter of Prime Minister Xue as the Noble Consort. His original legitimate wife was only given a consort position at the beginning. Not long after Fu Qingyan ascended the throne, the empress gave birth to the Crown Prince. The name Fu Lingxiao was not given by the emperor, but by General Lin himself. It was self-evident what this name meant (l¨ªng = approach, xi¨¡o = heaven). But everyone had underestimated Fu Qingyan. He was not willing to be a puppet. He secretly planned and schemed, and slowly cultivated his own power in the court. Xie Ke¡¯s father, Xie Lin, was promoted by him. Gradually, Fu Qingyan created the rivalry between the Lin family and the Xue family, and even subtly overpowered them. When Fu Zhiyu was old enough to remember something, Emperor Qingyuan was already in power, and no one in the court dared to act up in front of him. He was no longer the puppet emperor, firmly sitting in the dragon chair. But the remaining power of the Lin family and the Xue family was still there and it was hard to break their foundations. Emperor Qingyuan couldn¡¯t do it and didn¡¯t plan to abolish the Crown Prince. He still feared these families, and there was no need to shed the pretence of cordiality with them. Fu Qingyan¡¯s road to counterattack was really cool to sum up. Back then, the concubine¡¯s son of Wang Rong¡¯s family was not favoured. He had a bit of talent, but not too much. There was no choice, and when the main wife¡¯s son grew up and took the title, Fu Qingyan would be nothing after the separation from the family. Although Yuan Wanyun¡¯s father was only a fourth-rank official, Miss Yuan was the most beautiful woman in the capital, and her qin had been praised by countless literati and prominent figures. It was not an exaggeration to say that it reverberated around the rafters for three days (sonorous and resounding when describing a singing voice or music sounds). Such a woman, who knew what kind of accident it was, but she actually fell in love with such a man. When Fu Qingyan married this beautiful woman, during the ceremony in the ancestral hall, he swore to heaven that he would never take a concubine and only wanted Miss Yuan as his beloved. But just a little more than a year later, this vow was no longer valid. Advertisements After all, this was the throne. Many people didn¡¯t feel that Miss Yuan was losing out either. What was the point of being a single wife of a waste person? Now that Noble Consort Yun came to the scenery, oh no, already Imperial Noble Consort Yun, and even the Yuan family had been upgraded from the rank four to the rank three and got a cushy job, what was there to feel unhappy about? Fu Zhiyu had known all these things in his previous life, but it was only after reading the original book that he understood exactly what was going on at that time. When his mother, Yuan Wanyun, was a young girl, she didn¡¯t seek wealth or status, but a sincere heart. She was still naive at that time, always full of a kind of extremely innocent stubbornness. She didn¡¯t look at the sons of the prominent families who were courting her. Instead, she looked at a relatively ordinary young man. He was quiet and attentive, and he seemed to be ready to do anything for her. For a year or so after she was married, she did have a very happy time, completely ignoring the distractions of the outside world. She was playing the qin in the courtyard, and her husband was reading in the study. However, when she was playing the qin, her beloved husband would always be distracted and couldn¡¯t help but come over and kiss her on the forehead, boasting that she was the most beautiful and lovely woman in the world. A year or so later, Yuan Wanyun finally became pregnant, but her husband, who had been looking forward to having a child, heard the news and uncharacteristically didn¡¯t look very happy. The day after the doctor diagnosed the pregnancy by pulse, the Momo (an elder maidservant) brought a bowl of pregnancy medicine. After drinking it, Yun Wanyun woke up at night in pain, bleeding heavily, and the quilt was dyed red. The child was gone that night. Her body was so damaged by this incident that she almost passed through the Gate of the Ghosts. When she really woke up, she heard that her husband had ascended the throne and became the new emperor. He married another woman to be his empress and one more to be his noble consort. She was carried into a strange palace and had a new name, Consort Yun. She seemed to understand something overnight. It was impossible for Fu Qingyan to let that child be born. He wanted to be a puppet emperor. If he had a firstborn son at that time, it would be awkward and ruin his plans. When Fu Qingyan first became emperor, he was in a very difficult position. His hands were tied and he could do very little. He didn¡¯t come to Liuli Palace for several years. Later he explained that this was a kind of protection for her, but only Yuan Wanyun knew that the palace the emperor didn¡¯t visit, the Consort with no background, the ¡°legitimate wife¡± who had been demoted, had a very difficult life to live in the imperial palace where the high were worshipped and the low were stepped on. She couldn¡¯t even live a low-key life. The harem headed by the Noble Consort Xue targeted her as if she was a thorn in their flesh, and her husband didn¡¯t protect her forever as he had promised. It was only when Fu Qingyan gradually gained some power that her life became better. She became pregnant with another child and gave birth smoothly, and then she was made the Noble Consort. Eventually, those consorts and concubines didn¡¯t dare to offend her again, but everything was no longer the same. She used to be a carefree girl, spoiled by her family and loved by her husband, but now she was a fake person who always wore a mask. She had to act as soon as she raised her head, pretending to be gentle and virtuous, pretending that she never held a grudge, and only in front of her son could she get a moment of rest. ¡°Mother, don¡¯t be afraid.¡± Fu Zhiyu hugged her tightly and whispered softly in her ear, talking to her but also to himself, ¡°Believe me, I will take you out of here. From now on, Mother can be carefree again. All those things he promised you but ultimately failed to do, I can do them all.¡± CH 12 Fu Zhiyu believed that in the harem, Fu Qingyan¡¯s favourite person was his mother consort, but this so-called love was also comparative. If it was compared with the power, it was nothing. But Fu Qingyan couldn¡¯t be truly ruthless. He had love in his heart, so his feelings towards Consort Yun were extremely complicated. It was love mixed with guilt, but he didn¡¯t dare to be unrestrained, afraid that this unique emotion would be used to break the balance he maintained. Especially when Fu Zhiyu grew older and showed different talents and abilities. Fu Qingyan felt happy for this child in his heart, after all, it was the son born to the woman he loved the most. Who doesn¡¯t want his favourite child to perform well? But on the other hand, he didn¡¯t dare to be too biassed and didn¡¯t want to show favour too much. Everyone wants to leave their most precious things to their favourite child, including the throne, but if Fu Qingyan was too obvious, the Lin and Xue families, who were still in power, would not rest easy and would cause him endless trouble. It was in Fu Qingyan¡¯s nature to maintain a balance, and it was also something he had to do in his position as emperor. Emperor Qingyuan couldn¡¯t help thinking that it would be great if Fu Zhiyu was a princess. This name was given to him before Consort Yun gave birth to him. Zhiyu (zh¨© = know, y¨´ = jade) sounded like a name for a delicate girl. If she looked like his beloved consort, it would be even better. He would have loved his daughter endlessly and spoiled her into the most pampered noble lady in the world. But against his hope, Zhiyu was born a boy. This child did look very much like his beloved consort, and his temper was also similar. Sometimes his image overlapped with that of Yuan Wanyun, the famous beauty in the capital when she was young, making Emperor Qingyuan feel stunned for a long time. But Fu Zhiyu¡¯s cleverness sometimes made him feel scared. This was the emperor¡¯s instinctive vigilance. Fu Qingyan¡¯s throne was not easy to come by. He was a little too concerned about his position and always had a lingering sense of defensiveness about it. He had learned from the failed experience of the last two emperors, didn¡¯t dote on anyone in the harem and cautiously shared rain and dew among the concubines, so as to avoid having the situation that almost caused the decline of the Fu family¡¯s imperial power because of the lack of children. There were now more than a dozen children in the palace, including seven princes. The eldest prince was twenty one this year, and the youngest, Sixteenth Prince, was only six months old. Finally, Fu Qingyan had solved his hidden worries, but with more children, new worries were coming. When Fu Zhiyu saw these two decrees, he had already guessed the course of Emperor Qingyuan¡¯s thoughts. He had read the original book and knew the twists and turns in Emperor Qingyuan¡¯s heart very well. Although in his opinion, the man was completely overthinking it, Fu Qingyan was really such a person. It is very tiring to be defensive and worried all the time, especially in front of your beloved woman. The fact that Fu Zhiyu became stupid allowed Emperor Qingyuan¡¯s defensive mind to finally let go of some worries temporarily, or perhaps, he finally found a reason to let go. He finally felt that this child and the woman he loved could be completely controlled by him and would not create any unsettling factors for him in the future, let alone have any influence on the balance. He could be reckless for once, so there was nothing wrong with pampering a little more. Advertisements Consort Yun also knew Fu Qingyan very well. If Fu Zhiyu could think of something, she could do the same. After gathering her thoughts, she whispered again: ¡°The Crown Prince and the Xue family still have doubts. I think the spies placed in our palace are all ready to move, trying to find out if you are really stupid. And the emperor, although he also tested you, he seemed to believe it rather straightforwardly. He¡­¡± ¡°People always believe in what they want to see,¡± Fu Zhiyu said. He stretched out his hand to gently wipe the tears from his mother¡¯s face, ¡°Let¡¯s not talk about him, let¡¯s talk about other things. The Imperial Noble Consort¡¯s ceremony will begin in three days. I¡¯ll make sure to keep an eye on the Imperial Household Department and have them sew the most beautiful clothes for Mother Consort. Then, Mother Consort will be the most beautiful woman in the world.¡± Consort Yun snorted, patted his face and said, ¡°I¡¯m all old, there¡¯s nothing to look good or bad.¡± ¡°If I say you¡¯re beautiful, you¡¯re beautiful,¡± Fu Zhiyu said softly, holding her hand, ¡°Mother must believe me.¡± Consort Yun stopped talking, just looked at him and smiled. Since the time she had lost her first child, her heart had been almost dead and she only felt that her life was dark and dim. Even if Fu Qingyan spoiled her to heaven a few years later, she only felt that this man was extremely disgusting. She even thought about dying. After all, every day was a day of torture for her. The turning point was Fu Zhiyu. Like a miracle, her injured body was pregnant with another child. This child was almost nothing like his father. He was smart, kind and cute. He was her unique baby. Consort Yun was no longer loveless. She seemed to have gained a new lease of life and had grown into a mother who was as strong as iron inside. But in the past, Zhiyu was very busy. At a young age, he was reading and writing all day, or else he would have other things to do, and sometimes he didn¡¯t say a few words a day to her. But after he got sick, he seemed to have changed. He was very clingy. He stayed with her all day, and he talked and made her laugh. Although he had always been filial in the past, he was not like now. Now he was willing to say coquettish things and his mouth was as sweet as honey. Having him next to her was like holding a soft cotton-padded jacket in the winter and like wearing armour to protect her. Consort Yun felt that she had been much happier these days, and even when she saw Fu Qingyan, she felt that he didn¡¯t look so annoying anymore. She thought privately that it would be great if it would be like this in the future, them being just like an ordinary mother and son, with Zhiyu not struggling to be good but just staying with her for a long time. Advertisements When Fu Zhiyu said that he was going to keep an eye on the Imperial Noble Consort¡¯s auspicious clothes, he wasn¡¯t just talking, he really went and did so. He didn¡¯t think it was strange for a man to stare at the embroiderers in the palace to make clothes. Anyway, what he did now was normal to him, and he was not afraid of what others said. The news that the Ninth Prince had been given the title of Wang Zhao spread very quickly, and the whole palace knew it. Although it was not clear why the prince became stupid but was favoured even more, no one in the palace dared to offend Liuli Palace now. The Momo from the embroidery workshop waited cautiously on the side, accompanying Fu Zhiyu with a smile on her face: ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Wang Zhao, the embroidery workshop is busy day and night, and the gold silk and silver thread are used like flowing water. We will definitely use the best materials to make the most luxurious auspicious clothes for the Imperial Noble Consort Yun.¡± Fu Zhiyu nodded, turned his head and smiled at her, saying, ¡°Momo doesn¡¯t need to be nervous.¡± He looked at the Momo, who was old and sweating, as if afraid that he had come to look for trouble, and motioned to her to sit down. The Momo looked at him blankly and said ¡°Master didn¡¯t sit down, how can this slave¡­¡± Fu Zhiyu was helpless. He had been in the system space for a long time, and his thoughts had long been less feudal. He thought for a while, took a plate of snacks next to him, stuffed it into the Momo¡¯s hands and said, ¡°Momo just sits here, eats a snack and doesn¡¯t follow.¡± He looked around, only to find that the way those embroiderers¡¯ needles and threads were flying was extremely fascinating. He had never paid attention to these things in his previous life, always busy with competing. He didn¡¯t know that a dark flower on his clothes needed to be carefully embroidered by an embroiderer for so long. Although this was a book and there was not a word in the book that mentioned this group of embroiderers, they still existed for the sake of the perfection of the world and lived their own lives. Anyway, when Fu Zhiyu watched them, he just felt it was much more interesting than the main plot. He picked up a silver needle casually, just to take a look. Who knew that he didn¡¯t hold it right and the needle would prick his finger. It didn¡¯t hurt much but a drop of blood appeared on his fingertip pitifully. Fu Zhiyu quickly wiped it off, pretending that nothing had happened, otherwise the palace people who followed would make a fuss again. But after the blood was wiped off, the silver needle that accidentally pricked him slowly turned red under Fu Zhiyu¡¯s eyes, as if it was infected by that drop of blood. Fu Zhiyu felt it was a little hot when he touched it. After a while, it gradually returned to its original state. Fu Zhiyu: ??? What is going on here? Is my blood¡­ poisonous? He reacted in an instant. The Lord God told him about the mutation, but nothing happened for several days, so he left the matter behind. Fu Zhiyu frowned; his first worry was about whether the people who had been in contact with him, such as his mother, would be affected in some way. He couldn¡¯t stay in the embroidery room anymore, so he put away the silver needle, turned around and went back to the palace. CH 13 Fu Zhiyu kept squeezing the needle in his hand, and his mood was somewhat complicated. The Lord God who promised to never screw him didn¡¯t say everything. Fu Zhiyu had seen the silver needle turn black, but what was the strange sight of it turning red? It was a long way from the embroidery room to Liuli Palace, and as Fu Zhiyu walked through the imperial garden, he saw from afar three men who looked like guards, walking past in front of him. His eyes narrowed and he could tell at a glance that something was strange. The guards in the palace were also divided into grades. From the lowest palace guard to the highest imperial guard, the clothes they wore were very different, as well as the swords they carried and their tokens. The three people walking in front of him were the highest-level imperial guards. They were dressed in black; in the sun, you could see golden patterns on their cuffs, collars and plackets. The swords they used were excellent cold iron blades. This kind of sword could only be made by the best craftsman at most three times a year. The imperial guards had an official rank, and a serious fourth-rank officer was more useful than some second- and third-rank officials in the court. These people were all from prominent families and were young. Their future was limitless. Nowadays, there were no more than ten imperial guards in the palace. It was more valuable for them to be brilliant than to be numerous. Fu Zhiyu knew each and every one of them. These three¡­ he didn¡¯t seem to have seen them before. Especially the one at the front, why did he look so¡­ familiar? Unfortunately, by the time Fu Zhiyu recognised who that person was, he had no time to turn and go another way. It was Xie Ke. It was no wonder Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t recognise him at once. The imperial garden path was winding and the figure in the distance was covered by some branches. And it was the first time he saw Xie Ke wearing a guard¡¯s outfit, so it was normal not to recognise him for a while. Fu Zhiyu couldn¡¯t help muttering in his heart: when did he become an imperial guard? There was no such thing in his previous life. While he was puzzled, the three men, led by Xie Ke, walked over and saluted him, saying, ¡°Greetings to Wang Zhao.¡± After receiving Xie Ke¡¯s salute, Fu Zhiyu took a step back calmly. He wrapped his cloak more tightly and just wanted to leave quickly to see what was wrong with the blood in his body. Who knew that Xie Ke would refuse to let him go. After saluting, he asked Fu Zhiyu: ¡°Does Wang Zhao¡­ remember me?¡± Fu Zhiyu glanced at him, thought for a while, then shook his head and said, ¡°I don¡¯t know. I haven¡¯t seen you in front of Father Emperor before. Are you the new imperial guard?¡± He saw that Xie Ke was obviously stunned after hearing these words and there was some disbelief in his eyes. Fu Zhiyu originally wanted to take advantage of his daze and leave quickly, but he didn¡¯t even take a few steps before Xie Ke came up and stopped him. ¡°How dare you!¡± The eunuch next to Fu Zhiyu shouted, ¡°You are a guard who doesn¡¯t know the rules of the palace! Who gives you the courage to stop Wang Zhao?¡± The eunuch wanted to step forward and push Xie Ke but was immediately stopped by Fu Zhiyu. For one thing, the eunuch couldn¡¯t push Xie Ke away in any case, and for another, this was the protagonist, after all. Xie Ke had always held a grudge, so it was better not to offend him. Xie Ke lowered his head and looked at Fu Zhiyu closely, not caring about the yelling eunuch at all. His expression was indescribably complicated. His lips moved and he whispered: ¡°I¡­ this servant is the one who saved Wang Zhao in the ice lake that day.¡± Advertisements ¡°Xie Ke, Young Master Xie?¡± Fu Zhiyu took another step back, with an appropriate polite smile on his face, ¡°It¡¯s you. I¡¯m sorry, I was sick and I don¡¯t remember many things clearly. Mother Consort told me that it was Xie Ke from General Xie¡¯s family who rescued me at that time, but I really haven¡¯t been in good health recently. I didn¡¯t go in person to thank Young Master Xie for his life-saving grace. I didn¡¯t expect to meet Young Master Xie here.¡± ¡°Doesn¡¯t Wang Zhao remember?¡± Xie Ke seemed to be unable to cope with his expression, his eyes looking blank for a moment, ¡°This servant waited at Longquan Temple for a long time, this servant¡­¡± ¡°This wang knows,¡± Fu Zhiyu said, the smile on his face unchanged. ¡°But now there are still urgent matters that really cannot be delayed. If Young Master Xie has any needs, just ask someone to send a message to Liuli Palace. I will try my best to satisfy them.¡± ¡°I¡­ I don¡¯t want that,¡± Xie Ke seemed to want to hold Fu Zhiyu¡¯s hand, but halfway through the action, he felt something was wrong and quickly retracted his hand, as if trying to suppress the emotions in his heart, ¡°Wang Zhao promised that he would visit.¡± Fu Zhiyu was taken aback. In fact, what he said was just an excuse. Smart people would naturally understand that it was a matter of a word from a nobleman. Whether you come or not didn¡¯t matter. As long as you have already given a reward, it could be counted as gratitude. What kind of crazy game was Xie Ke playing, insisting on bringing this up? It was as if he was deliberately striving for something? Fu Zhiyu couldn¡¯t understand Xie Ke¡¯s expression; he just felt that there was some sadness and disappointment in his eyes, and something else that he couldn¡¯t figure out. He didn¡¯t want to figure it out either. In his previous life, Xie Ke obviously regretted saving him in the ice lake. He didn¡¯t save Miss Xue who should have been there and he couldn¡¯t wait to forget it all, so as not to be entangled with Fu Zhiyu because of this kindness, disrupting so many plots. What was Xie Ke doing pestering him here now? Fu Zhiyu really didn¡¯t understand him. The protagonist¡¯s heart was the needle on the bottom of the sea (difficult to understand). Fu Zhiyu thought for a while and said, ¡°After the ceremony of Imperial Noble Consort Mother is completed, this wang will visit.¡± ¡°This servant will be looking forward to it.¡± Xie Ke lowered his head, carefully made his expression blank, saluted him again, and added word by word, ¡°But now that this servant is the imperial guard, there will be many opportunities to meet Wang Zhao in the future.¡± After saying these words, he gave Fu Zhiyu a deep glance, turned around and left. Fu Zhiyu felt Xie Ke¡¯s arm brush against his shoulder. Xie Ke was nineteen this year, three years older than him, but a whole head taller than him. Although Xie Ke was now just a fourth-rank imperial guard, Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t dare to underestimate him. At that moment, he only felt his hair standing up on end. Advertisements He wanted to work hard to escape from the net in this life. The farther he stayed from the struggle for the throne and Xie Ke, the better. Whether it was the emperor or his old opponent Fu Lingxiao, none of them made him uneasy; but now he felt his heart fluctuating a little. It was as if he had a premonition that he was going to be pulled back into this net again. Fu Zhiyu steadied his mind and accelerated his steps a little bit. He secretly told himself not to worry but to find out what happened first. After Fu Zhiyu left, the three imperial guards also walked forward, chattering on the way. ¡°Boss, this is the Ninth Prince you rescued?¡± The second guard couldn¡¯t help but tug at Xie Ke¡¯s placket and asked, ¡°Wow, I would also try my best to jump down and save him, he¡¯s really good-looking. I think the youngest daughter of Prime Minister Xue is not as beautiful as this one.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t talk nonsense,¡± the third guard interjected, reminding, ¡°He¡¯s not the Ninth Prince anymore, but Wang Zhao. Now that you are in the palace, keep your mouth shut, don¡¯t talk nonsense like before.¡± ¡°What¡¯s wrong with the few of us talking about it? Besides, don¡¯t you think he looks good? Isn¡¯t he beautiful?¡± ¡°En, yes, very beautiful.¡± ¡°I¡¯m right, Boss, tell me¡­¡± Halfway through his speech, he fell silent. Xie Ke turned around and looked at him with a gloomy expression in his eyes, and the warning in them was beyond words. ¡°Don¡¯t look at him,¡± Xie Ke said, ¡°Mind your own business.¡± There was one more thing he held back from saying: he is mine. Xie Ke recalled the face buried in the white fur cloak and couldn¡¯t help but stick out his tongue and lick his dry, chapped lips. No one knew how much he wanted to hold Fu Zhiyu in his arms at that moment, blocking his mouth and preventing him from saying those irritating words. Just forget the bad memories of the previous life, how can you forget this one? Xie Ke clenched the sword hilt in his hand. It was undeniable that because of this incident, his heart was throbbing badly now. Many times in his previous life Zhiyu said that he fell in love with him at first sight. And the reason for this so-called love at first sight came from the life-saving grace on the ice lake. If Zhiyu really forgot about it, would he still fall in love with him? Xie Ke had a moment of uncertainty. In his previous life, no matter what he did, he had never seen such an expression on Zhiyu¡¯s face, alienated and polite, as if Xie Ke was no different from anyone else, from the flowers and plants in the imperial garden. He didn¡¯t know if this was his punishment. But he finally saw Zhiyu again, and no matter what, he would not give up. We will fall in love again, he thought, this time, it will be a true love between the two lovers, and no one could stop it. The author has something to say: Mini-theatre: Gong: The baby protects me in front of the eunuch, it means he has me in his heart! [full of confidence] Xiao Yu: This man is ruthless. I have to keep an eye on the people around me, otherwise Xie Ke retaliates against them. [serious face] CH 14 After leaving the imperial garden, Fu Zhiyu immediately asked someone to make some inquiries about Xie Ke. It was not something secret; after all, the selection of the imperial guards was a big event in the palace. But Fu Zhiyu hadn¡¯t been out much recently and didn¡¯t care about these things. The palace staff moved quickly, and by the time Fu Zhiyu arrived at Liuli Palace, the information had already been delivered. It turned out that Xie Ke¡¯s selection as the imperial guard had something to do with Fu Zhiyu himself. Because of the incident on the ice lake, the Empress Dowager wanted to reward Xie Ke. Saving the prince was considered a meritorious deed, and it was normal to be promoted. In his previous life, Xie Ke politely declined the reward when asked by the emperor, only saying that it was his duty to save the prince, and he wanted to be rewarded for his true talents and hard work. The emperor was not angry when he heard that; he just smiled and praised the young talent. Shortly afterwards, Xie Ke won the martial arts examination by a huge margin and became the true number one among the younger generation. The emperor remembered him and because Xie Ke was also Xie Lin¡¯s son, and General Xie had been promoted by Fu Qingyan and had contributed a lot to securing his position on the throne, the emperor was pleased and made Xie Ke a fourth-rank officer. This was already a great achievement for a nineteen-year-old young man. Now, the imperial guards were also the fourth-rank officers but it was a very different thing. Although the emperor meant to reward Xie Ke for the life-saving incident, he only deliberately included Xie Ke in the candidates under consideration. The imperial guards were much more powerful than simple officers and the selection was extremely strict. Even Xie Lin¡¯s son from the main wife, Xie Ke¡¯s half-brother, failed at the last level and was not selected. Although Fu Zhiyu felt that this shouldn¡¯t be a big deal for Xie Ke, it seemed Xie Ke was much more eager than in the previous life. Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t know what he wanted but he felt that this man paid special attention to him, with that look in his eyes¡­ He couldn¡¯t say what that look meant; he just felt that Xie Ke¡¯s emotions were extremely complicated. Advertisements Fu Zhiyu frowned. He hadn¡¯t forgotten his purpose; after entering the palace gate, he stopped the palace servant. There were many silver needles for poison testing in Liuli Palace. Fu Zhiyu tested his clothes, saliva, the water he had touched, and so on. Finally, he preliminarily determined that there were problems of varying degrees. His blood was the most obvious. The silver needle reacted quickly and turned red at once. On the contrary, the tea he had drunk was not so special. The silver needle soaked in it for a long time before it turned a little red. After repeated attempts of this kind, the silver needle had also undergone a change. It seemed to have been polished, much brighter than other silver needles that had not been experimented with. But Fu Zhiyu also knew that the method of silver needle detection was relatively backward and simple. The situation of a needle turning red had never happened before, and with the limited means available in this world, he could not yet determine what was wrong. After a few steps in the room, Fu Zhiyu thought of something else and squeezed a drop of blood into the cup, then poured it into the small pot of flowers by the window. This pot was sent by the Imperial Household Department yesterday. The plant was very suitable to raise in winter, but it had been really cold recently, and when you looked closely, you could see that the leaves of the flower shrivelled a bit. It probably was going to be replaced with a new one today. But when Fu Zhiyu poured this cup of water on the flower, it was as if it was instantly tinged with some kind of vitality. As if by magic, the slightly yellowed leaves gradually changed. When Fu Zhiyu waited a little longer, the flower was completely transformed into what it had been when it was first brought in, verdant and delightful to look at. Fu Zhiyu: ¡°¡­¡­¡± It didn¡¯t look like a bad thing? Advertisements The Lord God told him that every world was just a pile of data, so strictly speaking, every world could have something that materialism could not explain. For example, in a world without fantasy settings a flower could suddenly become a stone, which was normal, a small error in the daily operation of the data, soon to be fixed. The Lord God had its own set of operating rules, and Fu Zhiyu apparently was a particularly strange bug that couldn¡¯t be fixed or deleted. The Lord God at first doubted whether he carried a virus and would infect other data, and quarantined him for a period of time. But eventually nothing was detected and no other data in the world of ¡°His Name Will Live On in History¡± had this kind of a personality change, so the Lord God put the matter aside. But just because it hadn¡¯t happened then didn¡¯t mean it wasn¡¯t happening now. The Lord God said before that he had mutated, and Fu Zhiyu now had good reason to suspect that he had indeed developed some kind of contagious virus as a result of his mutation. But this ¡°virus¡± was not necessarily bad; take the pot of flowers in front of him, it obviously looked better now. Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t do anything else to this pot of flowers but just told the palace staff that this one didn¡¯t need to be replaced with a new one and didn¡¯t need to be moved, just staying where it was. He spent more than a day observing it, and saw that the flower was indeed getting better. Its vitality that suddenly improved was not an illusion, nor was it last flash of vigour before the demise. When Fu Zhiyu woke up the next morning, he saw that the flower had actually sprouted a few small pink buds, tiny like grains of rice in a pile of green leaves. The palace maid came to clean up the bed for him. She was lively and talkative by nature, and she couldn¡¯t help but say when she saw this: ¡°It¡¯s really strange, this flower grows so well in winter, and it looks like it¡¯s about to bloom. Master, do you want to move it? It is warm in the room.¡± ¡°No,¡± Fu Zhiyu waved his hand, ¡°just leave it there.¡± More than half of his conjectures were verified, and he was in a good mood. But apart from that, Fu Zhiyu also wanted to know if there were any other changes in his body. Although he had mostly faked his illness before, he had also been weak for a while from Dr. Chen¡¯s golden needles, and had only fully regained his strength in the last few days. Fu Zhiyu had tried something last night and now he had a bit of an idea. He took a look at the shelf in the study, picked a brush casually, held it between his index and middle fingers, and then with a slight effort, the brush shaft broke and fell soundlessly to the carpet at his feet. When he tried it last night, he realised that he could easily break off the wooden lion carved on the bedside. Although he pressed it back sheepishly, the broken lion glared at him with its wide open eyes, reminding Fu Zhiyu that there had indeed been a change in him. After several experiments, Fu Zhiyu felt that his strength could be completely controlled and there should be no accidents. He hadn¡¯t noticed it earlier because he hadn¡¯t experimented with it. In his previous life, he practised martial arts and went to the battlefield, but he had never been so strong. In this life he used his serious illness as an excuse to no longer practise martial arts so as not to reveal his skills in any way. It was not bad to have this ability now. Fu Zhiyu picked up the two halves of the brush that had fallen on the floor. While thinking about it, he decided that this matter would not have any effect on his original plan; it just made him feel more confident. He said that he would protect his mother and wasn¡¯t going to engage in fighting for power; but at least he needed to have the ability to guarantee the success of his plan. Although now he had the favour of Emperor Qingyuan and no one dared to offend Liuli Palace, Fu Zhiyu knew that the old emperor would not last for more than a few years. When the time came, he didn¡¯t think that the Crown Prince would let him and his mother go, and it was not as easy as he said to find an opportunity to escape. Keeping a low profile didn¡¯t mean doing nothing. Only by learning to plan ahead could he get the long, uneventful life he wanted. It was almost time for some scheming. Fu Zhiyu looked at the sky outside, thinking silently. After his mother¡¯s ceremony, he would go out of the palace. The appointment with Xie Ke was secondary; he had more important things to do. CH 15 Three days before the ceremony of conferring the title upon the Imperial Noble Consort Yun, Liuli Palace was very quiet. Rumours spread from somewhere in the palace that Wang Zhao was so stupid that he was pitiful. He went to the embroidery room, watched who knows what there, and also took away an embroidery silver needle. After returning to the palace, he was in a daze. He didn¡¯t go out for three days, saying that he wanted to embroider something for Consort Yun, so that she could use it at the ceremony. The news received by the Crown Prince and Consort¡¯s Xue Linyue Tower was similar to these rumours. Although it sounded a bit incredible, the spies did say so. ¡°What kind of stupidity does this look like?¡± Consort Xue hugged the hand stove and snorted, ¡°I don¡¯t think there¡¯s much use in naming him the Wang. As for Yuan Wanyun, her son has become like this. Without him to rely on, I¡¯ll see how long she can stay favoured.¡± Fu Rongye was reading a book, and when he heard that, he gave her a look and said, ¡°Say a few words less. If we¡¯re talking seriously, Mother Concubine should thank Liuli Palace. If it weren¡¯t for the fact that they asked Father Emperor for a favour, that matter wouldn¡¯t have passed so easily.¡± ¡°I should thank her?¡± Cocubine Xue sat up at once, her tone changing, ¡°Are you my son? Why do you speak for them all the time?¡± ¡°It¡¯s just the truth,¡° Fu Rongye didn¡¯t raise his head. ¡°Mother Consort has to admit that Father Emperor just likes it over there. I think even the Ninth Prince¡­ oh no, Wang Zhao¡­ no matter how stupid he is, Father Emperor is happy to look at him.¡± Consort Xue looked at him in disbelief, her hands shaking with anger: ¡°I think you are the one who has something wrong with you. Do you want to make Mother Consort angry?¡± Seeing her like this, Fu Rongye had a helpless expression on his face. He raised his head and said, ¡°Then let¡¯s talk about something that will make you happy. Father Emperor asked me to be in charge of this year¡¯s imperial examination together with Grandfather.¡± The grandfather he mentioned was Prime Minister Xue. Consort Xue¡¯s mood was going up and down, but she still couldn¡¯t suppress her excitement. The imperial examination had always been a major event in the country. It was not only an opportunity to be in the limelight but also a chance to attract the future talents. She covered her mouth in delight for a while before she asked softly to confirm: ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t make it public for the time being,¡± Fu Rongye¡¯s face also became serious. ¡°Don¡¯t tell Rongli either, he can¡¯t keep secrets. I¡¯ll find a chance to get him involved when the time comes. Then he can at least learn something and show his face in front of Father Emperor, so that Father Emperor doesn¡¯t only remember his mistakes.¡± Advertisements Consort Xue nodded again and again, only to hear Fu Rongye add coldly: ¡°This matter also lies with Liuli Palace. It is said that Father Emperor originally wanted the Ninth Prince to do it.¡± ¡°Fu Zhiyu?! The emperor is crazy, he is only sixteen!¡± ¡°He is not only famous in the capital, Grand Master Xu also likes him and deliberately mentioned him to Father Emperor,¡± Fu Rongye said, ¡°But that was before. Now he has this illness, and everything is different. Rumours are that Grand Master Xu has been sick for a while because of this matter. The old man was already in poor health and the doctor said that he was too worried and needed to rest. Only then was Grandfather finally given this task. Fu Zhiyu¡¯s stupidity is very timely. It is not too much to say that it is just perfect.¡± Consort Xue still had some doubts in her heart and said, ¡°But Li¡¯er suspects that he is not stupid at all.¡± ¡°Just listen to what Rongli says,¡± Fu Rongye waved his hand, ¡°He has been targeting Fu Zhiyu for more than a day or two. If he¡¯s really not stupid, then why is he pretending to be stupid? To hand over the benefits to others?¡± Consort Xue stopped talking; this made sense. ¡°Liuli Palace still should be watched,¡± Fu Rongye said, ¡°But now their side is no longer the focus. The reason why I told Mother Consort this is to let you and Rongli know that you shouldn¡¯t be blinded by momentary jealousy. It¡¯s useless to keep looking at others. Only strengthening yourself is the fundamental way.¡± Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t know what others were saying about him. He was now nestling on a soft couch, nibbling on a piece of fragrant mung bean cake little by little, like a weak, pitiful and helpless but cute bunny. The rumours outside were not purely nonsense. After he confirmed the mutation of his body, he started to do other things, such as¡­ embroidery. Although Caiyan and the others said that this kind of thing was only done by women, Fu Zhiyu felt that embroidery was embroidery. There was no reason in the world why only women were supposed to do it. Besides, for his mother, what couldn¡¯t he do? What was wrong with trying something he hadn¡¯t done before? Advertisements But he had overestimated his own talent; being able to draw was not the same as being able to embroider. These were two completely different skills. His original ambition was to embroider the ¡°Portrait of the Nurturing Mother¡±, and then he gave up step by step. In the end, he embroidered the handkerchief with¡­ the chicken at the feet of the nurturing mother. ¡°Portrait of the Nurturing Mother¡± was a famous painting. Even the chicken on the original painting was vivid and lifelike. The material used by Fu Zhiyu was the finest gold thread, but he ended up with a chicken that was obviously too fat and extremely deformed. It was so ugly that it couldn¡¯t be recognised as a chicken at all. Associating it with the famous painting would be an insult to the painting. He didn¡¯t want to give this thing to his mother; it was better pretend that nothing happened.The auspicious clothes embroidered by the embroidery room had been delivered to Liuli Palace, incomparable in their gracefulness and luxury, and his ugly little chick was even more an eyesore in comparison. But with rumours spread all over the palace, how could Consort Yun not know? She just took the handkerchief from his hand. ¡°What¡¯s wrong with Mother Consort looking at it? Isn¡¯t it embroidered for me?¡± Her eyes were full of laughter, ¡°I heard from Caimei that it had been embroidered for a long time, isn¡¯t it a pity to throw it away?¡± Fu Zhiyu buried his face in his white fox fur and said in a muffled voice: ¡°¡­Mother Consort makes fun of me.¡± ¡°How can I make fun of you?¡± Consort Yun put away the handkerchief carefully, ¡°Mother Consort really likes it.¡± Fu Zhiyu raised his head from the fox fur, glanced at her, and asked, ¡°Everyone in the palace says that Wang Zhao doesn¡¯t read books, doesn¡¯t practise martial arts, and spends time embroidering. His brain is probably really hopeless.¡± Consort Yun smiled and said, ¡°What they ask for is different from what Mother Consort asks for, so naturally they talk a lot.¡± ¡°I know,¡± Fu Zhiyu looked at her and smiled, and then said, ¡°I will accompany Mother Consort to the ceremony tomorrow, and then I want to go out of the palace.¡± ¡°To do what?¡± Fu Zhiyu said, ¡°To go to the Yuan residence.¡± The Yuan residence was the house of Consort Yun¡¯s parents. ¡°Go ahead,¡± Consort Yun smiled when she heard it. ¡°Take some things to them. I didn¡¯t plan to tell them about the situation with your illness for fear that word would get out. The family has sent several letters to the palace during this time, all of them concerned about you. Father and Mother are probably very worried.¡± Fu Zhiyu nodded. Now that he had the title of the Wang, it was much easier for him to enter and exit the palace than when he was a prince. ¡°By the way,¡° Consort Yun seemed to remember something, ¡°The one who saved you in the ice lake at that time, called Xie Ke. You said you would come to visit to thank him. Why don¡¯t you go to the Xie residence this time? There should be some etiquette. After all, he saved your life.¡± Suddenly hearing Xie Ke¡¯s name from his mother, Fu Zhiyu couldn¡¯t help but be taken aback and replied, ¡°I will go. I will handle Xie Ke¡¯s affairs, but Mother Consort should stay away from him. It¡¯s best not to talk to him. This man is very dangerous.¡± Consort Yun didn¡¯t know whether to laugh or to cry, and said, ¡°I live in the harem, how can I talk to men casually? Besides, Xie Ke is your saviour no matter what. Why do you guard against him like this?¡± Fu Zhiyu explained patiently: ¡°He just entered the palace yesterday and became an imperial guard. He is often by Father Emperor¡¯s side. Mother Consort should see him often in the future. Mother Consort should listen to me and stay away from him.¡± ¡°Fine, Mother Consort understands,¡± Consort Yun touched his face, ¡°You, it¡¯s just a trivial matter, why are you so serious? Your face is all tense.¡± It¡¯s not a trivial matter, Fu Zhiyu thought to himself. In his previous life, Mother Consort had hated Xie Ke very much, probably because she knew that Fu Zhiyu liked him extremely but couldn¡¯t get anything from him. The way she looked at Xie Ke was about the same as looking at a wild fox spirit. She felt that every time this man appeared, he would bare his fangs to suck her son¡¯s blood. To some extent, Consort Yun was indeed right. In this life, there was no need to worry about it¡­ right? CH 16 The next day was the auspicious day calculated by the Imperial Astrologer. After the Imperial Noble Consort Yun got up, it took her a whole morning just to get dressed. But it was time well spent; as she was supported by her maids, her beauty could not be overshadowed even by her jewelled crown. Almost all the consorts and concubines had arrived. The harem of Emperor Qingyuan was really rich. Standing together, the consorts and concubines practically filled the entire hall. Being stared at by so many pairs of eyes, full of envy, jealousy or cynicism hadn¡¯t made the smile on the face of Consort Yun change. Emperor Qingyuan stood there, with a smile he could not conceal since he saw her enter. She had nothing left but disgust for this man in her heart, but she still had to slowly walk towards him step by step. She knew very well what supported her through all this. It was the handkerchief embroidered with an ugly little chicken that she held in her palm. Emperor Qingyuan took her hand and asked her in a voice that only two people could hear: ¡°Yun¡¯er, are you nervous? Don¡¯t be afraid, I¡¯m here.¡± She shook her head gently, glancing to the right unconsciously. Fu Zhiyu stood there, wearing formal clothes and a jade crown for the first time after his illness, looking very energetic. With a soft smile in his eyes, he looked at his mother. As soon as Consort Yun glanced at him, she felt as if she had been given infinite strength. On this occasion, she was not the only one staring at Fu Zhiyu. The rest of the consorts, as well as the princes and princesses, and even the newly arrived imperial guards standing at the entrance were whispering. ¡°What! A! Beauty!¡± The young man standing next to Xie Ke was called Lu Linhai. He had a lively personality, remembering a carrot but not a stick. He was warned by the boss only a few days ago, but now he still couldn¡¯t help but speak up, ¡°No wonder people say that Consort Yun is a long-term favourite in the harem, and Wang Zhao is the most beloved child of the emperor. If it were me, I would also spoil her like a treasure.¡± ¡°Say a few words less,¡° Du Yin, standing next to him, didn¡¯t know how many times he had warned him. ¡°If the emperor hears this, consider yourself lucky if he just pulls out your tongue.¡± Xie Ke, who stood at the front, glanced at Lu Linhai and added gloomily: ¡°I won¡¯t wait for the emperor to come, I¡¯ll pull out your tongue first.¡± Lu Linhai touched his nose and closed his mouth, but he knew in his heart that although the boss beat him into a pulp on the martial arts field, he was still a good brother. ¡°Isn¡¯t the boss staring too?¡± He muttered, ¡°A few days ago when he got a little free time, he ran to Liuli Palace but didn¡¯t dare to go in¡­¡± Du Yin didn¡¯t dare to answer this either, just secretly looked at Xie Ke¡¯s face. Advertisements In fact, he also felt that the boss was a little strange. Not to mention the incident of meeting Wang Zhao soon after entering the palace, as well as his subsequent performance, there was a lot to think about. Last month, Du Yin told Xie Ke about the selection of the imperial guards, but Xie Ke clearly refused, and then disappeared for several days inexplicably. Who knows where he had been, but after he came back, he suddenly changed his mind for some reason. He relied on the emperor¡¯s special approval to participate in the selection, and later they entered the palace together. It seemed that he had changed since he saved Wang Zhao from the ice lake. Du Yin calculated silently that he and Xie Ke had known each other for seven years. Both he and Lu Linhai were the sons of the main wives. Although their families were not as high as General Xie¡¯s, their fathers were also well-known second-rank generals with military achievements. Calling Xie Ke, the son of a concubine, the boss was completely the result of them being convinced by his authority. It doesn¡¯t matter whose son a hero is. And if one might say something disrespectful, the emperor was also the son of a concubine. Although Xie Ke was regarded as an unparalleled talent, he was only nineteen years old. His heart was still juvenile and he still needed to grow up. But now Du Yin had only caught a glimpse of part of Xie Ke¡¯s planning, and he felt shocked. Lu Linhai was carefree and had no idea what kind of plans the boss was making and was already gradually putting into practice. What made Xie Ke so eager? Even a little desperate? Du Yin looked at the man standing in the hall. Lu Linhai was right. With so many people there, Wang Zhao was noticeable at a glance. Even though he was standing a bit aside, with his appearance, had he even stood in a nook or a cranny, one would still look at him, finding him in the sea of people. No way¡­ Du Yin took a breath and turned to look at the boss again. Except for occasionally patrolling the surroundings, Xie Ke spent the rest of his time staring at Wang Zhao. I think he is crazy, and I am crazy too, Du Yin thought. He felt that his mind was shaken, but when he looked at the person standing there, fair like a jade, he felt that Xie Ke¡¯s thoughts were not completely unreasonable. This was the legendary beauty that destroyed cities, the grave of a hero. Du Yin looked at the sky sadly. In fact, Fu Zhiyu also felt it. Xie Ke¡¯s eyes were like nails. He didn¡¯t care about anyone¡¯s gaze in this hall, only Xie Ke¡¯s made him feel creepy. Advertisements He glanced over there, and sure enough, he saw three familiar faces. In addition to Xie Ke, Lu Linhai and Du Yin were also good acquaintances from his previous lives. He recognised them in the imperial garden at that time. The roles of these two in the original book were much bigger than that of his, a cannon fodder who lived for one-fifth of the book. They were Xie Ke¡¯s right-hand men and had followed Xie Ke since he was still young. Although the protagonist gathered a lot of younger brothers when he was fighting his battles, the status of these two generals was still unshakable, and their final ending was also very good. Their whole life could be regarded as glorious. The world was rebooted but some things still hadn¡¯t changed. Fu Zhiyu looked away. He seemed to be submerged in memories, his mind wandering off for a while, and he didn¡¯t regain his senses until the ceremonial music started. The ceremony of conferring the title continued for almost the whole day. At night, the emperor naturally stayed in Liuli Palace. Fu Zhiyu stayed in his house. In front of him was the pot of flowers that he had doused with his blood. The flower was now growing better and better, and the little rice-grain buds were all blooming. In the middle of winter the flower bloomed excitedly with its little pink flowers all day, and only at night did it reluctantly lose some of its petals. Fu Zhiyu wrapped his fingers around its leaves and played with them, while planning to leave the palace tomorrow. Tonight, some of the servants in his place were transferred to his mother¡¯s side to help; after all, there were many things to be cleaned up after the ceremony. So there were fewer people around. Liuli Palace was very big, but it couldn¡¯t hide the fact that it was a cage. Fu Zhiyu sighed and looked up at the sky, only to feel sleepy. He stretched out and was ready to go to bed. But in the middle of the night he woke up with a start, as if he suddenly felt something was wrong. He half opened his eyes and listened to the slightest rattle in the room. It was the sound of the window being opened. Perhaps because of his mutation, Fu Zhiyu felt that he was also much more sensitive lately. He didn¡¯t like to have people waiting at his bedside when he slept at night, so his servants were all outside. But they weren¡¯t far from his bed, just a few steps away, and the sound of the window opening was very obvious, yet no one had come over. Fu Zhiyu¡¯s nose twitched and he caught a strange smell in the air. Was it incense? This thing probably had little effect on his mutated body. Fu Zhiyu remained awake, feeling that the window was closed again, and the sound of footsteps slowly got closer and closer to his bed. Of course he could call someone, but Fu Zhiyu was also wondering who on earth dared to do this. The Crown Prince? The Third Prince? There was no need for them to do this, besides, the emperor was staying in Liuli Palace tonight and there were so many guards. Even if one of them wanted to do something, they wouldn¡¯t pick this time. The room was very dark, with only a faint bit of moonlight coming in. Fu Zhiyu pretended to continue sleeping, feeling that the man was getting closer and closer and then lifted the curtain of his bed. Fu Zhiyu heard the man¡¯s breathing change to a gasp, as if he was short of breath all of a sudden. Then he got closer and closer, and finally hugged Fu Zhiyu through the quilt. Fu Zhiyu: ¡°¡­¡­¡± Although he was very reluctant to admit it, he did recognise who the man was by this intimate gesture. Xie Ke. No wonder he was able to enter under such a guard. He was the imperial guard himself, so it was equivalent to stealing from himself. Fu Zhiyu hesitated for a while. If he got up and called for someone, if the protagonist was caught on the spot, would this result in a grudge? He just wanted to stay as far away from Xie Ke as possible. Why did this man have to come? Most importantly, what was he doing here? While Fu Zhiyu was struggling with his doubts, Xie Ke had already rolled onto the bed and hugged him tighter. Fu Zhiyu was sleeping facing the wall, with his back to Xie Ke, so he could only feel Xie Ke¡¯s breath brushing over his ear, and then he felt a cool lick on his earlobe. Fu Zhiyu heard Xie Ke¡¯s low voice; it was as if a demon was talking. ¡°Zhiyu was so beautiful today, but it was a pity that I could only stand there and look at you.¡± ¡°But you don¡¯t have to wait too long,¡± Xie Ke paused for a while, smiled softly, and whispered, ¡°The baby will be mine sooner or later, mine alone.¡± Fu Zhiyu: ¡°???¡± What was he doing? Xie Ke didn¡¯t actually stay for long and didn¡¯t have time to do anything. He just hugged Fu Zhiyu for a while and kissed his earlobe and the side of his face. After all, as an imperial guard, he couldn¡¯t disappear for too long. But after he left, Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t fall asleep for the rest of the night, keeping his eyes open until dawn. No one could have fallen asleep under such circumstances. It was just that Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t have a trace of romantic thoughts in his heart now. He only remembered that the last time he was so close to Xie Ke at night, this man sent someone to kill him the next morning. CH 17 He was now inevitably frightened and a little worried that Xie Ke would cause great disruption to his original plans. Fu Zhiyu sat on the bed for a while when he got up in the morning, and decided to make Liuli Palace strengthen its defences, at least not to let Xie Ke come in so easily. Before, he didn¡¯t understand why Xie Ke had done such a big thing and had to reboot the world, and he didn¡¯t know why Xie Ke suddenly paid so much attention to him. It turned out to be like this. Fu Zhiyu was certainly not dumb when it came to emotions. He just couldn¡¯t understand why Xie Ke would suddenly undergo such a transformation, nor did he want to understand. It was funny, in his previous life, he was the one who chased after Xie Ke, but Xie Ke would never respond. If he had heard these words in the past, he would have been overjoyed, but now he was only worried about whether it would affect his life. Fu Zhiyu took some time to pull himself together. He hadn¡¯t forgotten that he was going out of the palace today and still had some things to do. He also had to go to the Xie residence by the way. After all, he had promised before, and this encounter could not be avoided. It had been fine before last night, but now, thinking about it, it made him feel chilly. Fu Zhiyu sighed for a long time and rubbed his brow wearily. All in all, Xie Ke was really his nemesis. In two lifetimes, he refused to go along with Fu Zhiyu¡¯s wishes and had to make him feel uncomfortable. After Fu Zhiyu left the palace, he didn¡¯t go to the Yuan residence immediately, let alone the Xie residence. Instead, he took two guards to the largest restaurant in the capital, ordered a few plates of snacks and a pot of wine, sat in the private room facing the street on the second floor and slowly ate and drank. It was getting late, and the street was very lively, with shouts and conversations merging into one. Fu Zhiyu also saw a hawker selling sugar-coated hawthorns walking past below the building, so he asked the guard to buy two. ¡°Do you guys want to eat?¡± Fu Zhiyu was now in a somewhat better mood. He broke out of Xie Ke¡¯s gloom, a smile appeared on his face and he said to the two guards standing behind him, ¡°It¡¯s good to try them occasionally.¡± The two guards shook their heads solemnly in unison, and Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t force it. He took a bite of one and wrinkled his brow in sourness but still lowered his head and took a second bite. The other one was wrapped in yellow paper and placed beside him. Recently, as the imperial examination was approaching, the first floor of the Fengyue House was particularly lively, and Fu Zhiyu could hear many scholars talking about their poems and theories below. It attracted a crowd of onlookers, and the noise was even louder than the street outside. Advertisements In his previous life, he and Grand Master Xu were in charge of the current examination. It was a big thing for Fu Zhiyu to be in charge of such an occasion. At that time, he was still a vigorous teenager and was in love. He wanted to show how good he was, just like a proud peacock. But now as he looked at these people, he only felt like he was looking at the people from another world. It was natural for young men to be this energetic, but as he said to his mother, what he wanted now was different and it was normal to look at these things differently. Opposite the restaurant was the most famous brothel street in the capital, which was why the restaurant was called the Fengyue House (f¨¥ngyu¨¨ = ¡®beautiful scenery¡¯ and ¡®romance¡¯). It was indeed true that one could sit there and ¡°watch Fengyue¡±. But now it was broad daylight and the street was closed to customers. However, not accepting customers didn¡¯t mean the street wasn¡¯t working. It was still very busy there. Fu Zhiyu knew that today the largest brothel in the street, Mei Pavilion, was bringing in a group of newly bought people, all young boys and girls around ten years old. There was a child among them that he had to rescue. This child shouldn¡¯t have a name yet. Fu Zhiyu gave him a name. He used the surname of the Yuan family and called the child Yuan Mingdao. In his previous life, after Yuan Mingdao was sold into a brothel, the brothel keeper tried to teach him to be a young courtesan but the boy resisted to death. Who knows how many times he was beaten. One day, he escaped from the hands of the brothel keeper and ran down the street to the Fengyue House, where he ran headlong into Fu Zhiyu¡¯s arms. Whether it was in the book or in reality, Fu Zhiyu took the child away. Fu Zhiyu in the book felt that this child was young and full of ruthless energy, and would be a good henchman in the future; but in the previous life, the real Fu Zhiyu only felt that the boy was injured all over and looked too pitiful. In his previous life, Yuan Mingdao was kept by Fu Zhiyu in the Yuan residence. The Yuan family treated him very well and taught him martial arts. The weapon he knew best was a curved half-moon scimitar. He even had to hold the sword at night to fall asleep. Indeed, he was an excellent martial arts talent. Advertisements Fu Zhiyu would go to see him when he had time, but it was as if the child, Yuan Mingdao, recognised him alone and refused to stay at the Yuan residence, insisting on following him. He had saved Fu Zhiyu¡¯s life twice, and had defended him from swords and other things countless times, and whenever Fu Zhiyu went to the battlefield, Yuan Mingdao would follow him every step of the way. When Xie Ke rebelled in the previous life, Yuan Mingdao took the lead in a counterattack but was unsuccessful. He was beheaded by the rebels; at that time, he was only in his early twenties. In this life, Fu Zhiyu was going to do everything not to allow Mingdao to repeat the same mistake and fall into that situation. In fact, this child didn¡¯t like war at all, nor did he want to indulge in the scheming of the court. He just did it for Fu Zhiyu. In this life, Fu Zhiyu felt he had a responsibility to give the child a fulfilling life. As far as Mingdao was concerned, the furthest back Fu Zhiyu could go was now, and he didn¡¯t know where the boy really had been before then. Just as he was thinking about it, he saw a simple carriage rattling from the other end of the road, heading in the direction of the brothel street. That was it. Fu Zhiyu¡¯s spirits lifted, and he hurriedly led the guards downstairs. When he reached the carriage, the carriage also happened to stop at the intersection by Mei Pavillion¡¯s backyard. Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t need to do it himself, those two guards were enough. Not long afterwards the keeper of Mei Pavillion came out trembling, and there was a row of people kneeling in the backyard. ¡°If Wang Zhao wants anyone in the pavilion, just say it,¡± the keeper wiped the sweat from her forehead with a flattering smile on her face, ¡°No need to make such a fuss.¡± Fu Zhiyu pointed to the carriage and said, ¡°I don¡¯t want the rest, I just want him.¡± The guard stretched out his hand and opened the curtain of the carriage. Fu Zhiyu looked inside. A child was curled up in the depth of the carriage. When he heard the sound, he raised his head and took a look. The child had green eyes, and his exotic features were obvious. His origin should be the ancient country of the West, and he was resold here from thousands of miles away. It was dark inside the carriage, and the child squinted his eyes and looked outside. It took him a while to get a good view of the visitor. After he saw Fu Zhiyu¡¯s face clearly, the boy froze for a moment. Then a look of obvious surprise flashed his eyes, and a shallow smile appeared on his face, revealing two cute tiger teeth. ¡°Come here,¡± Fu Zhiyu stretched out his hand, his tone very gentle. He wondered if Mingdao would be willing to go with him at this point. He was a little apprehensive in his heart, but what happened next proved that he was indeed overthinking it. The child was very obedient and quickly crawled over to him, burrowing into his arms at once. He was obviously ten years old, but because of malnutrition, he was very thin and looked younger than a seven-year-old. Fu Zhiyu picked him up easily, wrapped him in his cloak, and then stretched out his hand to give him the sugar-coated hawthorns that he had bought before. ¡°I remember you like to eat these little things,¡± Fu Zhiyu patted him on the back and said softly, ¡°Come with me, I¡¯ll take you to the inn to eat and take a bath, and buy a few more clothes later, okay?¡± The child nodded and looked at him without blinking with his green eyes wide open, looking very docile. ¡°Why is he the only one left?¡± The brothel keeper looked at the empty carriage after the curtain was opened and couldn¡¯t care about anything else. She slapped the pimp next to her, ¡°I bought more than a dozen of them!¡± ¡°Don¡¯t mention it!¡± The pimp had an unlucky look on his face and replied in a low voice, ¡°I passed by Leicheng three days ago and all of them ran away at night. I think it was done by people with malicious intent. I don¡¯t know about this child either, why he didn¡¯t follow them. He was well-behaved all the way, so I brought him back. I didn¡¯t expect that there would be no one left in the end.¡± Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t care what was going on in the brothel; he took the person he wanted away. In the room he booked at the Fengyue House, the servant had already prepared hot water and heated the stove. He needed to wash the dirty child first. The author has something to say: Xiao Yu is not the only one who has been reborn. Are you surprised? Are you surprised? CH 18 However, Fu Zhiyu also found that the child was much more clingy than in his previous life. He took Fu Zhiyu¡¯s hand and didn¡¯t want him to leave when he was bathing. Fu Zhiyu had to wash him by himself. The guards behind him felt that this was inappropriate and wanted to interfere but were immediately sent out by Fu Zhiyu to buy clothes for the child. He felt that there was nothing wrong with it. Mingdao was pitiful at the moment and he couldn¡¯t help but feel distressed for the child. It was the middle of winter now, and Mingdao was wearing only two thin pieces of clothing on his body. It was cold even to look at it. Fu Zhiyu sighed uncontrollably while bathing the boy and looking at the assortment of big and small wounds on his body. Yuan Mingdao was an orphan with unknown parents. He had an unfortunate childhood and because of this, the little bit of kindness Fu Zhiyu had shown him made him want to repay this kindness even if he had to die. ¡°Do you have a name?¡± Fu Zhiyu asked him softly, ¡°If not, can I give you one? It¡¯s just that I can¡¯t give you a surname casually. My mother¡¯s surname is fine. You¡¯ll be called Yuan Mingdao, good?¡± The child nodded obediently, speaking for the first time and saying one word: ¡°Good.¡± Then he blinked again, stared at Fu Zhiyu intently and added one more word: ¡°Master.¡± Fu Zhiyu touched his wet hair and smiled: ¡°My name is Fu Zhiyu.¡± As he spoke, he wrote these words on his arm, leaving a few blurred traces of water. ¡°I will teach you calligraphy and martial arts,¡° he continued, ¡°But I didn¡¯t take you away to be your master. In the future, if you want, you can treat me as your elder brother.¡± Yuan Mingdao shook his head stubbornly and then called him ¡®Master¡¯ again, still clinging to him and refusing to let go. Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t force this matter either. He just bathed Mingdao for half an hour. The guards bought a lot of children¡¯s clothes. He picked a light green cotton-padded coat from the pile and dressed Yuan Mingdao in it. Yuan Mingdao was born very good-looking. After washing, his skin was extremely pale, and his green eyes looked like clear gems. He looked different from the people here, a different kind of exotic style. It was no wonder that the brothel keeper in the previous life was reluctant to let him go and did her best to make him obey. His hair was not pure black, but a bit brown. Fu Zhiyu carefully wiped it with a towel several times. Now it was semi-dry, with a few strands hanging on his cheeks, making Mingdao look very docile. ¡°Too thin,¡± Fu Zhiyu put the clothes on him, touched his face again, and said, distressed, ¡°There is not much meat here. The waiter will deliver the food later. Let¡¯s have some snacks first.¡± Advertisements Perhaps because he had changed into new clothes, Yuan Mingdao didn¡¯t gobble up the meal like he had done in his previous life, like a beggar who had not eaten in eight lifetimes. Although he ate quickly this time, his movements were disciplined, even a little reserved and elegant, and he didn¡¯t stare at the meat, but remembered to combine meat and vegetables, and put down his chopsticks when he was almost full. Fu Zhiyu waited for him to finish eating and touched his hair that was already dry. So he took the hair rope prepared on the side and tied Mingdao¡¯s half-length hair simply. From behind, he saw Yuan Mingdao¡¯s back tense up and then gradually relax again. In his previous life, he had been good to Mingdao, but he didn¡¯t do these things for him personally. Back then, he still regarded himself as a prince; no matter how gentle his personality was, his upbringing from an early age made it impossible for him to condescend to do such things. But now Fu Zhiyu had long since been enlightened. To put it bluntly, everyone was just data, and there was no point in strict etiquette. Now he could do whatever he wanted, and it was even less likely for Mingdao to be shackled by any rules. In his eyes, Mingdao was now a younger brother who needed protection. He was only ten years old, he was still young and still had plenty of time. ¡°Do you want to take a nap?¡± Fu Zhiyu asked him, ¡°I don¡¯t think you¡¯ve had a good rest recently, right? When you wake up, I will take you home.¡± Who knows what part of his words affected Yuan Mingdao but the boy plunged himself into his arms. Fu Zhiyu hugged him, feeling how soft the child was. It was the life that he finally saw again, and it was the regret that he finally had the opportunity to make up for. ¡°Don¡¯t go.¡± Yuan Mingdao whispered in his ear, ¡°I¡¯m scared¡­¡± His voice was too low, and Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t hear clearly what he was muttering in the end. ¡°I¡¯m not leaving,¡± Fu Zhiyu patted him on the back and coaxed, ¡°I didn¡¯t sleep well last night either, so I¡¯ll lie down here with you for a while.¡± Yuan Mingdao was coaxed by him and gradually relaxed. Fu Zhiyu was really sleepy. After he got Mingdao, it was like a knot had been untied in his heart. Advertisements They slept until noon. After Fu Zhiyu woke up, he saw that Mingdao, who was still asleep, was clenching his sleeve, refusing to let go. He moved a little, and the child immediately opened his eyes. ¡°No more sleeping?¡± Yuan Mingdao shook his head, staring at him intently. ¡°Then let¡¯s go out and have a look. I still have some things to do,¡± Fu Zhiyu said with a smile. ¡°I haven¡¯t been out like this for a long time either. I still miss it a little bit.¡± Holding Yuan Mingdao¡¯s hand and followed by two guards, he attracted quite a lot of attention as he walked down the stairs, and the noisy lobby was quiet for a moment, with the eyes of the scholars all looking at him, intentionally or unintentionally. Fu Zhiyu had followed Grand Master Xu out of the palace before quite a few times. He had also met some famous scholars and attended several gatherings. He was good-looking and attracted attention, so many people knew him. Besides, after so long, few people probably didn¡¯t know that he was named Wang Zhao after his brain was damaged due to an illness. Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t care about the whispers, he only said quietly to Yuan Mingdao: ¡°Be careful of the steps. The steps of the Fengyue House are a bit too high, do you want me to carry you down?¡± Yuan Mingdao, looking serious in front of so many people, shook his head firmly. No matter how much the scholars speculated in their hearts, no one dared to step forward. They could only watch as this group of people walked through the lobby and were about to walk out of the Fengyue House. But at this moment, someone squeezed out of the crowd. The guards reacted quickly and stood in front of Fu Zhiyu with swords in their hands, ready to protect him. It was a scholar, wearing a moon-white robe, looking harmless at first glance. There was no sense of threat about him but there was a light of excitement in his eyes. ¡°My name is Shen Yang,¡± the scholar saw the guards pointing the swords at him but he was not afraid at all. He only saluted Fu Zhiyu and said, ¡°I have been introduced by Grand Master Xu and have been fortunate enough to meet Wang Zhao a few times. Dare to ask, does Wang Zhao remember me?¡± Since this man appeared, Fu Zhiyu felt that Yuan Mingdao¡¯s hand holding his suddenly tightened. To be honest, Shen Yang was someone he remembered, and remembered very clearly. When Fu Zhiyu was the emperor in his previous life, he had three confidants and beloved subjects, all of whom he treated with sincerity, but the choices of the three were different. His loyal guard Yuan Mingdao died for him. His beloved general Xie Ke eventually killed him. And his best support, Prime Minister Shen Yang, chose to betray him. Yes, when Fu Zhiyu was the emperor, he personally appointed the commoner Shen Yang as his prime minister. To be fair, Shen Yang was very clever and talented. At the time of fighting for power with the Crown Prince, it was Shen Yang¡¯s idea that gave Fu Zhiyu a lot of advantage. However, when Xie Ke rebelled, it was Shen Yang who stole the imperial seal. When Fu Zhiyu was most in danger, he chose to defect to Xie Ke, leaving him behind. It was not easy to see these three old friends today, and they were all the kind that he remembered deeply, ah. CH 19 Looking at this man, Fu Zhiyu couldn¡¯t help but recall all kinds of things that happened between him and Shen Yang. Now he looked at the young face of this talented commoner who was still wearing an old washed-out robe, and he had mixed feelings for a moment. Shen Yang was not a nobody. He was already well-known, the top talent among the scholars from poor families. He had been Grand Master Xu¡¯s student for five years and was a popular candidate to win this year¡¯s imperial examination. In Fu Zhiyu¡¯s previous life, he did take the lead and was personally named the top scorer by the emperor. It was just that Shen Yang had no background, and a tall tree attracts the wind. Less than a month after the Qionglin Banquet (a banquet for the new scholars after the imperial examination), he was in trouble, caught in a fraud case, accused of secretly conspiring with the supervisor of the examination and failing to live up to his reputation of literati. In order to solve this trouble as soon as possible, Fu Zhiyu in the book did not investigate carefully and pushed out the supervisor and Shen Yang as scapegoats, taking himself off the hook. But the real Fu Zhiyu was very firm, and he didn¡¯t believe that Shen Yang would cheat at all. He knew in his heart that this was a deliberate game set up by the Crown Prince, and it was aimed at him. Shen Yang was just an innocent victim of the incident. He had investigated the matter for a month and restored Shen Yang¡¯s good name. Shen Yang was very touched and had been following Fu Zhiyu wholeheartedly since then. He did do a lot of things for Fu Zhiyu in the times of turmoil but backstabbed him at the last critical moment. There were really few people like Yuan Mingdao. After all, the truth is that people always choose what¡¯s best for them, like birds choose the best trees to live in. Fu Zhiyu had been bitterly disappointed by this matter, but after he read the original book, he realised that Shen Yang didn¡¯t belong to him. Because of the different choice of Fu Zhiyu in the original book, although Shen Yang did not die, he suffered a lot until Xie Ke rescued him, restored his innocence, and gave him a brand new life. Shen Yang followed Xie Ke, fighting his way up the ladder. After Xie Ke unified the continent, he became Xie Ke¡¯s Prime Minister, the position under one person and above ten thousand people. Fu Zhiyu originally changed Shen Yang¡¯s fate and robbed the protagonist of the opportunity. In fact, everything was just returning to the main plot. Only then did Fu Zhiyu understand. Advertisements After he had an epiphany, he let go of this heart knot. He even thought that Shen Yang was really wronged by following an incompetent emperor who didn¡¯t deserve to be followed. Although he was the Prime Minister at that time, he had to suffer the anger of the old officials in the court countless times, nowhere as cool as following Xie Ke would be. Fu Zhiyu also felt that Shen Yang had actually repaid his so-called kindness a long time ago. He was not the kind of person who would ask others to repay his kindness for a lifetime. Now he only felt that what happened between the two of them had offset each other¡¯s actions and they no longer had anything to do with each other. Now as he looked at this man, except for some emotions brought about by the memories, only peace of mind was left. He clenched Yuan Mingdao¡¯s hand tightly, glanced at Shen Yang and said lightly: ¡°This wang has had a serious illness and can¡¯t remember many people clearly. Mingdao, let¡¯s go.¡± ¡°Wait-¡± Shen Yang seemed a little anxious, ¡°This commoner really has something important to discuss with Wang Zhao!¡± The guards didn¡¯t have the order of Wang Zhao, so they naturally stopped him. Shen Yang, a scholar, couldn¡¯t move a step further when he was stopped by the guards. Meanwhile, Fu Zhiyu had already taken Yuan Mingdao into the carriage and pulled the curtain up. ¡°Let¡¯s go, go to the Yuan residence,¡° he said to the coachman, not caring in the least about what was going on outside. ¡°Go faster, it¡¯s already noon, don¡¯t waste time here.¡± The coachman received the order, and as soon as he raised his whip, the carriage left. Naturally, the guards also got on their horses and followed. Shen Yang, who wasn¡¯t impeded anymore, didn¡¯t give up. He chased after Fu Zhiyu¡¯s carriage, running after it. ¡°Wang Zhao!¡± He was not in very good health and panted after a few steps. He seemed to be really anxious. In the end, he couldn¡¯t care about his face and shouted loudly in the street, ¡°This commoner really has important things to discuss. Please, Wang Zhao, please stop the carriage for a moment, I really only have a few words to say, please¡­¡± But the carriage moved too fast, and Fu Zhiyu couldn¡¯t hear him after turning a corner. ¡°We don¡¯t care about him,¡± he said to Yuan Mingdao in the carriage, his tone and expression softening all at once, ¡°Don¡¯t pay attention to such strange people in the future. There are some pastries I brought from the palace. Try them?¡± Yuan Mingdao nodded; his bright eyes kept looking at Fu Zhiyu, sweeping away his somewhat unhappy mood. ¡°We are going to the house of my mother¡¯s parents,¡± Fu Zhiyu explained patiently. ¡°Everyone in the Yuan residence is very nice, and I miss them very much.¡± After a while, the carriage stopped in front of the Yuan residence. Advertisements The daughter of the Yuan family had just been made the Imperial Noble Consort, but the atmosphere in this mansion was very low-key. Only two red lanterns that would be hung during the New Year were hanging at the gate. The gate was not large, and if you took a closer look, you would see that the paint on it was peeling off. Who knew how long it had not been repaired. The master of the Yuan family, whose name was Yuan Herong, was a military general in the imperial court and a third-rank imperial envoy. To put it bluntly, he was an official in charge of all kinds of resources of the army. Old Master Yuan was now in charge of forage, and there was indeed a lot of opportunity for ill-gotten gains. But since Old Master Yuan had taken on this responsibility, he had made this department a clean government office, and nothing had ever gone wrong. He was a bit high-minded by nature and a bit pedantic, but he was upright, never worshipped the high and stepped on the low. He was a good man. In addition to his daughter Yuan Wanyun, the Yuan family also had two sons, Fu Zhiyu¡¯s two uncles. The elder uncle Yuan Jiangxing was away with his family, guarding a small town on the border, and only returned to the capital for debriefing every three years. The younger uncle Yuan Jiangwen didn¡¯t choose to become an official. After he took the examination, he became interested in doing business. He travelled with a caravan all year round and made a lot of money, but being a merchant in this dynasty was always inferior to being an official in the eyes of others. No matter how much money he made, he couldn¡¯t compare to some ninth-rank official. It was no wonder that Emperor Qingyuan felt that there was no real threat from this family. But in Fu Zhiyu¡¯s eyes, his mother¡¯s family was not useless. He felt very fortunate that he still had such a family. Although it was not as powerful as the Xue family, everyone in the Yuan family was really good to him, untainted with any private interests. But the Yuan family didn¡¯t end well. At the time when his rivalry with the Crown Prince was heating up, everyone in the Yuan family was killed due to the Crown Prince¡¯s scheme, leaving not even one survivor. Fu Zhiyu was in so much pain at that time that he couldn¡¯t sleep night after night. Even though he later killed the Crown Prince and became the emperor, he couldn¡¯t bring back his loved ones. The wound remained in his heart and could not be healed. After he was reborn, although his heart was much calmer, he had some regrets, such as his mother consort, such as Mingdao, and such as the Yuan family, and he felt that he needed to make up for them. It was probably because he had really died once and knew the nature of this world that he could understand more deeply what true love was. Holding Yuan Mingdao¡¯s hand, he walked all the way through the gate to the familiar small flower-patterned porch, where he could smell the smell of the stewed meat from afar. The old lady of the Yuan family stewed beef. Her cooking was very good. The beef was so soft that it melted in the mouth. Fu Zhiyu liked to eat it. Every time he came, the old lady put it on the stove in advance, stewing it in a large pot, so big you couldn¡¯t finish it for three days. This fragrance seemed to sweep away the bad memories, leaving only the beautiful ones. Shen Yang, whom he had just met, and Xie Ke, whom he was about to meet, were left behind. Fu Zhiyu felt that none of them were important. He couldn¡¯t keep the smile off his face. The courtyard of the Yuan residence was not large, and there were not many servants in the family. Unlike other families with three wives and four concubines, the old master and his two sons each only married one woman and made a vow to grow old together, abiding by it to the end. Fu Zhiyu guessed that his infatuation in the previous life was probably inherited from the Yuan family, but neither he nor his mother were lucky to meet a true person who would only have them in their hearts. Now he was standing in the hall, looking at the small and simple courtyard in front of him, only to feel incredibly relaxed. It made him feel more comfortable than the magnificent Liuli Palace, as if this was really his own home. CH 20 ¡°Wang Zhao.¡± When Old Master Yuan saw him come in, his face was obviously happy and his beard was cocked up, but he was still confined to abide by etiquette, brought his wife and bowed to Fu Zhiyu in a formal manner. However, he was quickly helped up by Fu Zhiyu. ¡°Don¡¯t be like this. There are no outsiders now and it¡¯s not that you don¡¯t know my character. When did I care about these rules?¡± Fu Zhiyu said softly, ¡°Sit down quickly.¡± Old Master Yuan was helped up by him but still waved his hand and said solemnly: ¡°Manners must not be abolished.¡± Fu Zhiyu and Consort Yun had seriously discussed the matter of Fu Zhiyu pretending to be sick and decided not to tell Old Master Yuan who was too upright and couldn¡¯t act. Although it worried the old man, it couldn¡¯t be helped. They could only explain it to him later when there was no need to pretend anymore. ¡°Let me see,¡± Old Mrs. Yuan¡¯s eyes were flushed when she saw Fu Zhiyu, ¡°Such a serious illness, I don¡¯t know how much you have suffered. I couldn¡¯t sleep all night, and your grandfather kept sighing.¡± Fu Zhiyu turned around to show her, signalling that his body was all right, and said, ¡°It¡¯s all over, it¡¯s fine now.¡± Old Mrs. Yuan finished her examination, wiped her eyes, and soon remembered something, pulling him to the dining table to sit down, ¡°Then eat something quickly. I specially stewed the meat, Wang Zhao has liked to eat it since he was a child. Eat quickly and gain some weight, it¡¯s good for your health!¡± The bowls prepared for him by the old lady were all very big, bigger than Fu Zhiyu¡¯s face, and the stewed beef was piled up inside like a small mountain. It couldn¡¯t be helped, it was like this every time he came. ¡°Whose child is this again?¡± Only then did Old Mrs. Yuan pay attention to Yuan Mingdao who was standing aside. Her first reaction was to touch his smiling face in distress, ¡°Why are you so thin! You look like you haven¡¯t eaten enough, come, come, have a bowl of meat first!¡± Fu Zhiyu: ¡°¡­¡­¡± This was what the old lady was like. He could gain three catties (catty ~600 grams) if he stayed here for longer. Advertisements But it was precisely because of this that Yuan Mingdao grew up very fast when he lived here, suddenly turning from a skinny kid to a handsome young man and later was half a head taller than Fu Zhiyu. Yuan Mingdao was pressed by Old Mrs. Yuan on the chair by the dining table. His hand with chopsticks was obviously trembling. He looked at the large bowl of meat, as if recalling something, and gulped in horror. Fu Zhiyu and Yuan Mingdao sat at the dinner table for the rest of the afternoon before they could barely finish the bowl of meat. Yuan Mingdao had indeed eaten a little too much today. Fu Zhiyu kept feeding him in the morning, and he ate so much in the afternoon. He rubbed his stomach and kept burping. No one could resist Old Mrs. Yuan¡¯s enthusiasm. Besides, she also practised martial arts and had a lot of strength. Anyway, it was impossible for a person who was pressed into a chair to get up until honestly eating the meat in the bowl clean. Fu Zhiyu also told his family everything he had to say this afternoon. Except for those things that could not be revealed, the rest was all told. After listening to it, the old man and the old lady of the Yuan family were also relieved. In addition, Fu Zhiyu also brought a lot of things, gold, silver, clothes, and some supplements. Several large boxes were piled up in the yard. After he finished explaining to the Yuan family¡¯s housekeeper, he turned to his grandparents and said, ¡°In a few days, I will find a chance to send you into the palace. Mother also misses you very much.¡± ¡°Good, good,¡± Old Mrs. Yuan nodded uncontrollably and couldn¡¯t help but say, ¡°Won¡¯t you stay for a while? At least have dinner.¡± ¡°¡­I¡¯m really full,¡° Fu Zhiyu felt that he was stuffed up to his eyeballs with food. Not to mention dinner, he was afraid he wouldn¡¯t be able to eat tomorrow, ¡°I¡¯ll come back when the family is all together.¡± Fu Zhiyu was referring to his two uncles, both of whom were now far away. But he remembered that his elder uncle would return to the capital for debriefing in the spring, and his younger uncle¡¯s caravan would also be back. He had important things to discuss with these two people. Winter was about to pass, and there were not many days left before spring. ¡°Mingdao,¡° Fu Zhiyu finished speaking, then turned his head and stretched out his hand to the child, ¡°Let¡¯s go, there are still things to do.¡± Yuan Mingdao was standing at the dinner table burping. He had been watching Fu Zhiyu in the courtyard from a distance and didn¡¯t expect him to turn and offer his hand to him. He was stunned for a long time, forgetting to burp. He walked up to Fu Zhiyu¡¯s side in a daze and held his hand. The master¡¯s hand is really soft, he thought secretly. Advertisements Fu Zhiyu led him all the way into the carriage and looked at the sky. It was getting late now, about an hour before he had to return to the palace. He hasn¡¯t forgotten about going to the Xie residence to visit, but this matter was not as important to him as Yuan Mingdao and the Yuan family. He also deliberately delayed it to this point just to make a visit and leave a gift. Anyway, as long as the etiquette was followed, no one could pick a fault. Xie Ke¡¯s incident yesterday made him even more determined. He really didn¡¯t want to say one more word to the protagonist, God knows what this guy would do. Yuan Mingdao was sitting in the carriage, his expression still stunned, as if he was in some confusion. ¡°Aren¡¯t you wondering why I didn¡¯t leave you in the Yuan residence?¡± Fu Zhiyu felt his gaze, glanced at him, and added, ¡°Just like in the previous life?¡± When Yuan Mingdao heard this, he suddenly looked up. ¡°Why are you so surprised?¡± Fu Zhiyu smiled at him, ¡°I guessed something from the beginning when I saw you. Did you find a chance to let the other children in the carriage escape? Only you didn¡¯t run. Did you want to come to the capital to see me?¡± Yuan Mingdao seemed to be still in shock, opened his mouth, and didn¡¯t answer. ¡°You.¡± Seeing him like this, Fu Zhiyu only thought how cute and funny he was. He stretched out his hand and pinched Yuan Mingdao¡¯s face, saying, ¡°A little observation and you can tell, it isn¡¯t that difficult, what, only you can be reborn and I can¡¯t?¡± The ten-year-old Yuan Mingdao and the grown-up Yuan Mingdao could be considered worlds apart in some habits and actions. Especially when he was in the Yuan residence, his attitude and look at Old Mrs. Yuan was clearly not the way as if he had seen her for the first time. Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t really have a problem with his brain, it was obvious enough. ¡°Master!¡± Yuan Mingdao rushed into his arms all at once, his voice choking, ¡°I¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay, speak slowly.¡± Fu Zhiyu said, patting him gently on the back, ¡°A lot of things have happened since I came back, and I will tell you little by little.¡± If Yuan Mingdao hadn¡¯t been reborn, it would be impossible for Fu Zhiyu to bring him back to the palace no matter what. The palace was a very dangerous place for a ten-year-old child. What he was afraid of was that Mingdao could easily be used by the Third Prince and the Crown Prince. The Yuan residence was much safer. But now that Yuan Mingdao had been reborn, he could understand many things. It was fine to bring him into the palace; at least he wouldn¡¯t be easily harmed by others. Besides, no sane people in the imperial palace would harm Liuli Palace at this time; there was nothing to gain and the consequences would be endless. So there was no threat to Liuli Palace now. In this case, Fu Zhiyu felt that there was no need to separate from Yuan Mingdao. The child was sobbing. Although he wanted to speak, he couldn¡¯t say a word. Fu Zhiyu was not in a hurry. He knew that this incident had a great impact on Mingdao and it would take some time to absorb the shock. ¡°Master,¡± Yuan Mingdao said while sobbing, ¡°I¡­ I really regret it. At that time, I was so angry that I left in a hurry, abandoning you alone in the palace. There was no one to take care of you. Woo¡­ It¡¯s all my fault.¡± ¡°How can I blame you?¡± Fu Zhiyu touched his soft hair and comforted gently, ¡°I hadn¡¯t realised it at that time, it turned out that Mingdao could even give up his life for me. It gave me something to think about before I died, just to feel that I hadn¡¯t completely failed as a human being and that there were people who were willing to treat me sincerely. By the way, there was also a palace girl, named Qiu Rong, who accompanied me in my last days. She was young and very lively. I am also very grateful to her. It¡¯s just that calculating the years, she should be only about five or six years old now, and she doesn¡¯t look like a native of the capital. It¡¯s even possible that her name was changed after she entered the palace. I was groggy all day and don¡¯t remember much about her. There is really no way to find her now, and I don¡¯t know if I will see her again in this life.¡± Halfway through Fu Zhiyu¡¯s words, the carriage stopped. Fu Zhiyu frowned. He hadn¡¯t gone far enough, he hadn¡¯t even left the Yuan family¡¯s street yet; the Xie residence was still far away from here. At this moment, there was the voice of the guard outside the carriage: ¡°Wang Zhao, someone stopped the carriage, it¡¯s¡­ Xie Ke of the Xie family.¡± CH 21 The guards knew that the master was going to see Xie Ke, so they didn¡¯t draw their swords but only took a vigilant posture, waiting for Fu Zhiyu¡¯s instructions. Fu Zhiyu, taken aback, raised the curtain and glanced out. Xie Ke was riding a bay horse; he stopped in the middle of the road, blocking the way. There were official residences on the left and right of the road and ordinary people couldn¡¯t get in there. At this point, there was no one around. Only his carriage and Xie Ke, a man on a horse, were facing each other. The scene was indeed a bit awkward. When Yuan Mingdao heard the name, he was stunned for a moment and immediately stopped crying. His memories surged in an instant and his eyes turned red. ¡°Don¡¯t be afraid,¡± Fu Zhiyu glanced at him, put the curtain down again and patted Yuan Mingdao on the back, comforting, ¡°In this life I won¡¯t be like before. Wait for me in the carriage for a while, I will be back after I finish solving it, okay?¡± Yuan Mingdao sniffed. He felt a little aggrieved but still listened to what Fu Zhiyu said, so he loosened his grip on Fu Zhiyu¡¯s placket finger by finger. But his eyes were still locked on Fu Zhiyu. Fu Zhiyu lifted the curtain and went out. Xie Ke was sitting on the horse, and he had to look up at him. ¡°Young Master Xie, what does this mean?¡± Fu Zhiyu put on a formal smile, ¡°This wang was about to visit the Xie residence.¡± When Xie Ke saw him coming out, he immediately got off his horse. He walked up to Fu Zhiyu and stared at him for a while before performing the courtier salute. ¡°The person who saved Wang Zhao was this servant alone. As for the Xie residence, it has received the emperor¡¯s reward earlier, so there is no need for Wang Zhao to bother with it,¡± Xie Ke said. What he said was a bit blunt, ¡°Can Wang Zhao¡­ just say a few words to me?¡± His tone was somewhat pleading, but his eyes never left Fu Zhiyu. Advertisements ¡°How can it be possible? This wang has already sent the message to the general¡¯s mansion. Wouldn¡¯t it be a missed appointment if I didn¡¯t arrive?¡± ¡°I have mentioned it to my father, and he agreed,¡± Xie Ke said and took another step forward. ¡°It¡¯s just a few words. Does Wang Zhao not want to talk to me?¡± Fu Zhiyu really didn¡¯t want to be alone with Xie Ke. He originally delayed his visit till this time and thought he was going just to show up symbolically and leave after a cup of tea at most. But now that he was stuck here with Xie Ke, it was no good; the nearby mansions were all inhabited by court officials, and just because there was no one in the street now didn¡¯t mean there always wouldn¡¯t be. If anyone saw them and speculated, it would be troublesome. ¡°Fine,¡± Fu Zhiyu looked at the sky and thought for a moment, then nodded decisively, ¡°Let¡¯s go somewhere else, this is not the place to talk.¡± Let¡¯s finish talking as soon as possible and leave as soon as possible, he thought. There was no point in arguing with Xie Ke, it was just a waste of time. When Xie Ke heard this, he seemed to relax all at once. He showed a gentle smile and said, ¡°Wang Zhao, please come with me.¡± Probably to save time to talk to Fu Zhiyu for a while longer, Xie Ke found a place not far from here. It was a small inn. Naturally, it wasn¡¯t as gorgeous as the Fengyue House in all aspects, but there were fewer people and the melaleuca cake made by the owner here used to be Fu Zhiyu¡¯s favourite snack. Fu Zhiyu still let Yuan Mingdao stay in the carriage, comforted him with a few more words, and took the guard to the private room with Xie Ke. The private room was actually very well decorated. It was a small room but the incense burning was Fu Zhiyu¡¯s favourite incense. The wine on the table was his favourite peach blossom brew. A few small snacks were also favoured by him. A plum blossom was inserted in the vase on the table, and the pruned branch was also the way he liked to see. The owner of the inn didn¡¯t know these things; they should¡¯ve been placed by Xie Ke himself. Advertisements But now was not the time to enjoy them. Fu Zhiyu just had too much to eat at the Yuan residence. He didn¡¯t want to drink the wine and didn¡¯t want to eat the snacks. The fragrance he used to like made him feel a little nauseous. He spent a lot more effort on Xie Ke in his previous life than this, wishing he could pick the stars in the sky for him. Now that the positions had been reversed, he could see it clearly: it turned out that if you didn¡¯t want someone, no matter how much they tried, it was useless. If someone asked him how he felt about Xie Ke now, there was no hatred and there was not a trace of love left. There was just emptiness. All the things he had struggled with in his previous life, whether it was loving or not being loved, disappeared long ago after he got to know the truth. Xie Ke was an actor. His only purpose was to complete his mission in this world to earn points. All those things he did, in Xie Ke¡¯s opinion, were just deviations from the plot, a huge hindrance to his completion of the mission. The things he had been giving desperately should have just been troublesome for Xie Ke. As to why Xie Ke repeatedly slept with him and then rejected him¡­ God knows, Fu Zhiyu was too lazy to think about it. Maybe Xie Ke felt happy by making him sad at that time. Or maybe, Xie Ke was used to playing with the world and felt it was okay to play with someone so unquestionably in love. So Fu Zhiyu was actually still confused about what happened last night. He only knew that Xie Ke had some plan but he couldn¡¯t understand the meaning of it. What was the point of Xie Ke¡¯s regret? The Lord God told him that although the task of ¡°His Name Will Live On in History¡± was very important, for an actor of Xie Ke¡¯s level, if the task failed, at most his points would be deducted but it would not cause any actual damage to him personally. What¡¯s more, Fu Zhiyu¡¯s line only accounted for one-fifth of the full text and his role was not even considered a major supporting role. Even if Xie Ke¡¯s task deviated in this one-fifth of the plot, it wouldn¡¯t be enough to fail the mission; a final rating of 60 or more would have been a passing grade. This was what Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t understand. In his previous life Xie Ke felt that Fu Zhiyu wasn¡¯t worth some of his points; so why bother to come back to do these things now? What kind of person expresses his love like this? Fu Zhiyu felt ridiculous even thinking about it. As he thought about this, he sat down at the table by the window. No matter what Xie Ke was thinking, Fu Zhiyu¡¯s only expectation now was that he would recognise his identity as soon as possible, be the protagonist honestly like in his previous life, and follow the plot, so as not to disturb Fu Zhiyu¡¯s escape plan anymore. Xie Ke saw Fu Zhiyu look around after entering and thought he must have liked the place. After they sat down, he carefully poured a glass of wine for Fu Zhiyu. The fact that it was only the two of them sitting opposite each other now made Xie Ke particularly happy, and even though there was an unsightly guard standing at the entrance of the private room, he ignored it. He was submerged in an ambiguous and gentle atmosphere, eager to reach out and touch Fu Zhiyu, who was so close, touch his cheek and kiss his pale lips, as if only in this way could he really let his heart settle and make sure that this person had not disappeared. But Xie Ke didn¡¯t dare now. It would scare him. Zhiyu was still young. Xie Ke suppressed his urges, only softening his voice, and saying to Fu Zhiyu: ¡°Try it. It¡¯s the wine I brought from the general¡¯s mansion. If Zhi¡­ if Wang Zhao likes it, I will send some more to Liuli Palace in the future.¡± ¡°No need,¡± Fu Zhiyu glanced at the glass full of wine without reaching out to touch it, ¡°This wang is recovering from a serious illness and it is not suitable to drink. Besides, the diet in the palace has its own rules, and food from outside is generally not allowed. Imperial Guard Xie has just entered the palace, so it¡¯s better to be cautious.¡± Xie Ke suffered from Fu Zhiyu¡¯s cold expression without getting angry. He cherished every moment now. Every word Fu Zhiyu said, he felt his heartstrings trembling when he heard it, even if it was cold and made him feel uneasy. After being back for so long, he hadn¡¯t talked to Zhiyu properly. CH 22 ¡°Then eat something,¡± Xie Ke looked at him greedily and started looking for a topic again. He pushed the plate of snacks towards Fu Zhiyu, looking into his eyes gently, ¡°This melaleuca cake is good.¡± Fu Zhiyu glanced at it but didn¡¯t move, his tone still very flat: ¡°Isn¡¯t Young Master Xie going to tell me something? There is no need to bother with these things. Is there anything you need my help with?¡± Xie Ke shook his head, forcibly controlling his expression, and said, ¡°No. Although this servant is a military man, he has long heard of Wang Zhao¡¯s talents and has long yearned to meet him. At that time, when I learned that it was His Highness Wang Zhao who was rescued from the ice lake, I was shocked. I have been worried about your safety for a long time. Then it happened that I had seen Wang Zhao a few times and I just felt¡­ Now I dare to say these words in the hope that Wang Zhao will give me a chance, and¡­ maybe can see me more regularly.¡± Xie Ke had turned these words in his mind many times, but after he finished speaking in one breath, he simply wanted to knock himself on the head. Obviously, every time he saw Zhiyu, he felt that he had something to say, but when he actually had the chance to say it, he stumbled and stuttered. On the one hand, he was afraid that he was a little abrupt and offensive, and on the other hand, he was afraid that Zhiyu would not feel the affection he wanted to express. After this passage, he only felt that he was in a mess and his face was flushed. It wasn¡¯t at all like he thought it would be. He was like a novice who had never been in love before, not knowing where to put his hands and feet. Obviously, he had played the protagonist so many times, and had travelled to so many worlds. He didn¡¯t know how many times he had done all kinds of emotional lines, so he should have had some experience. Coming back this time, Xie Ke had scrupulously thought how to do all the good things he could for Zhiyu, how to try to make up for him and make him the happiest person in the world. But only now did Xie Ke realise that when a man really faced someone he loved, he would never be as comfortable as when he was acting according to the plot. Only now did he know what it was like to be in love for the first time, to be anxious as if his heart was hanging in mid-air, but also to taste a trace of sweetness from it. However, Fu Zhiyu just frowned as he listened to him. ¡°Heard of the talents?¡± His face was already very cold, as if he couldn¡¯t wait to leave. ¡±If it¡¯s just that, Young Master Xie doesn¡¯t have to bother with such thoughts. I don¡¯t have these talents anymore.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not what I meant!¡± Xie Ke panicked when he heard this, ¡°I just want to¡­ do my best to take care of Wang Zhao.¡± For the first time, he found that his mouth was so stupid that he couldn¡¯t explain himself. ¡°This wang doesn¡¯t need your care. There are servants in the palace to take care of me,¡± Fu Zhiyu said. He added word by word, ¡°It¡¯s not your place to feel sorry for me either.¡± Fu Zhiyu felt that he understood part of Xie Ke¡¯s thoughts. It was not because he liked him, it was because of guilt, right? Anyway, he had successfully completed the mission, the important things had been done and the points had been earned. Now that Xie Ke had achieved those things, he felt sorry for him, seemed to have some regrets and came back to find him? After becoming successful and famous, he wanted to make up for his psychological discomfort. Nice try. The world was rebooted because of Xie Ke, but not everything had to be the way he wanted it to. Advertisements Fu Zhiyu felt that he couldn¡¯t talk about it anymore today. His face was completely cold. Xie Ke also sensed that the atmosphere was sliding in the wrong direction. He was at a loss, unable to understand why Zhiyu had such a bad impression of him. Even if Zhiyu didn¡¯t remember the time he saved him and the moment he fell in love at first sight, he shouldn¡¯t be so cold. Xie Ke knew Zhiyu¡¯s character very well. He really must have hated him to the extreme to talk like this. Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t care what Xie Ke thought and looked up at the sky. It was getting late. He stood up from his seat and prepared to go back to the palace. But at this moment, Yuan Mingdao showed half of his little face in the door of the private room, blinked and smiled strangely. Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t know how long he had been hiding there and listening, but the two little tiger teeth he showed looked pretty malicious. ¡°Brother,¡± he ran into the room, stretched out his little hand towards Fu Zhiyu and coquettishly begged him, ¡°Hug me.¡± Fu Zhiyu had no choice but to pick him up and pat him on the back, his tone softening instantly, far cry from the time when he was facing Xie Ke: ¡°Are you tired of waiting? It¡¯s okay, we¡¯ll go back now.¡± Xie Ke stood up, just trying to stop Fu Zhiyu, but saw the face of the little kid in green clothes lying on Zhiyu¡¯s shoulder, facing him with his green eyes narrowed slightly and a meaningful mocking smile. This smile looked a bit strange on the face of a ten-year-old child, as if there was an adult inside that little body. Xie Ke seemed to be struck by lightning, his feet frozen in place before he could take a step. He had been looking at Zhiyu until now and hadn¡¯t noticed the child¡¯s face, but now he recognised Yuan Mingdao. But it shouldn¡¯t be! Yuan Mingdao didn¡¯t meet Zhiyu at this point in time. Why did it happen so many days earlier? Advertisements Xie Ke recalled all the things he had experienced with Zhiyu after he came back, and suddenly broke into a cold sweat. All these things gradually pointed to a possibility that he was least willing to face. Did Zhiyu remember what had happened before? Those unpleasant memories that Xie Ke wanted to erase, the past that hurt so much every time he touched it¡­ It turned out Zhiyu remembered everything? He was so dumbfounded that he forgot to stop Fu Zhiyu, letting him turn and leave. ¡°I¡­¡± he murmured in a voice that only he could hear, ¡°I¡¯m sorry¡­¡± After Fu Zhiyu returned to the carriage, he breathed a sigh of relief and then closed all the curtains tightly. The imperial carriages were all specially made. As soon as the curtains were closed, if the one inside spoked in a lower voice, nothing would be heard outside. Besides, this was a winter carriage, and the curtains that covered the windows were thicker, so Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t hesitate talking to Yuan Mingdao inside. He focused on the key points and briefly talked about what had happened during this time. Fu Zhiyu never thought about telling anyone about the system and the Lord God. Even if he really described this kind of thing, people in this world couldn¡¯t understand what it was. He just followed Yuan Mingdao¡¯s example and explained all of this as ¡°rebirth.¡± ¡°Master, wait,¡± Yuan Mingdao pondered, ¡°I overheard some but I didn¡¯t fully hear it. I just felt that Xie Ke had changed a lot, so I wondered if he was the same as us, but what I didn¡¯t expect was that he didn¡¯t even guess that the Master was also reborn? The Master has obviously changed so much.¡± Fu Zhiyu thought for a while and said, ¡°He probably thinks that if I had the memory of my previous life, I would have never drunk that bowl of medicine.¡± When Yuan Mingdao heard him say this, he had some worries in his heart: ¡°Then did I disrupt the Master¡¯s plan? Now that he saw me, he should have noticed something was wrong. After all, this time we have met so much earlier.¡± ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter,¡± Fu Zhiyu said, ¡°I didn¡¯t expect to hide it from him for long, he would know sooner or later.¡± Moreover, if Xie Ke knew that he clearly remembered everything in his previous life, he might give up quickly, realising that any relationship between them was absolutely impossible. CH 23 After a while, the carriage entered the palace gate. Yuan Mingdao was a child and under the protection of Fu Zhiyu, so the guards at the palace gate didn¡¯t dare to examine him too closely, and they entered without incident. It was just that this matter was quickly known by the emperor, which was also normal. The emperor stayed at Liuli Palace at the moment, and Fu Zhiyu just came back, almost meeting him face-to-face. ¡°Why did you go out of the palace and bring a child back?¡± Emperor Qingyuan wasn¡¯t angry. He called Yuan Mingdao over, looked at his palms without any marks, relaxed, smiled and said, ¡°What does Xiao Jiu bring him for? Is there anything special about him?¡± Fu Zhiyu wasn¡¯t nervous. He knew that it was impossible to bring Yuan Mingdao in without passing the emperor¡¯s scrutiny. The emperor often came to Liuli Palace and it was impossible to hide an extra child. He didn¡¯t want to hide Yuan Mingdao either; he wanted to bring him in openly. But Yuan Mingdao was indeed too small and thin and didn¡¯t have any signs of martial arts training. Fu Zhiyu had also discussed it with the child in the carriage. No need to worry, just behave a little timidly, like a normal child who had never seen the world, and leave the rest to him. ¡°I met him on the street and felt sorry for him, so I brought him back.¡± Fu Zhiyu¡¯s reason was also very simple, ¡°Can¡¯t I? I want to raise him for fun, but the current residence is not ready yet so I¡¯ve brought him back to the palace.¡± Emperor Qingyuan liked his simple-mindedness and straightforwardness, so he nodded and let Yuan Mingdao stay. When Fu Zhiyu looked at him, he knew that the emperor was thinking the wrong thing, but he didn¡¯t intend to explain. The Crown Prince and the Third Prince were grown up, and there were some concubines in their palaces. This was not the first case and it was not a big deal. After meeting the emperor, things went more smoothly. Fu Zhiyu set up a small bed for Yuan Mingdao not far from his bed that night. Anyway, he was still little now and it was okay for him to sleep there. Advertisements ¡°This time I don¡¯t need a martial artist to teach me martial arts,¡± Yuan Mingdao said. ¡°I can practise by myself. These things are in my bones, but my body can¡¯t keep up for the time being. I will remember everything after practising for a while.¡± Fu Zhiyu nodded and added: ¡°The scimitar you used in your previous life should still be in the ancient country of the West, it hasn¡¯t been brought here yet. Don¡¯t worry, I will get it back for you, but you can¡¯t take it with you to the palace. Just wait until we live in my residence.¡± ¡°Good!¡± Yuan Mingdao sat on his small bed. He estimated the distance between him and his master¡¯s bed and felt even more happy. ¡°I¡¯m not in a hurry. Now in the palace, no one should touch me either.¡± Fu Zhiyu patted him on the head and said soothingly: ¡°Go to sleep. Don¡¯t be afraid, I will protect you in this life.¡± ¡°Master,¡± Yuan Mingdao grabbed the corner of his clothes, his eyes gentle, ¡°in these two lifetimes, the luckiest thing for Mingdao is to meet you.¡± Fu Zhiyu originally wanted to say that he was lucky to meet Mingdao, but he hadn¡¯t said this sentence, changing it to: ¡°¡­I¡¯m sorry.¡± Yuan Mingdao shook his head hurriedly and said, ¡°I did all this voluntarily in my previous life! It¡¯s not the Master¡¯s fault!¡± ¡°I obviously became the emperor, but I couldn¡¯t protect you. It¡¯s my fault to spend so much time on people who are not worthy, but not really taking care of people who are worthy,¡± Fu Zhiyu said seriously, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Mingdao, it won¡¯t be like this in the future.¡± Yuan Mingdao didn¡¯t know what to answer. His master said that but he had always been very kind to him, and Yuan Mingdao couldn¡¯t help but shed tears again. ¡°Why are you so weepy?¡± Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t know whether to laugh or to cry, wiping the child¡¯s tears with his sleeves, ¡°Little crybaby.¡± Yuan Mingdao denied it while sobbing and explaining: ¡°I¡­ just can¡¯t help it. Too many things have happened today, and I am still in a child¡¯s body. It is instinctive, I can¡¯t help it¡­¡± ¡°Yes, our Mingdao is still a child.¡± Fu Zhiyu¡¯s eyes were doting, ¡°Then don¡¯t think so much now, just play carefree like a child.¡± ¡°En!¡± But I still have to practice martial arts and try to protect my master! Yuan Mingdao clenched his fists and made up his mind silently. Advertisements The news in the palace spread quickly. The next day, everyone knew that Wang Zhao brought back a particularly beautiful child, and it caused everyone to talk a lot. The Ninth Prince Fu Zhiyu really had changed a lot recently, as if he had become a new person. He used to be a gentleman and abided by etiquette, not to mention that he had no concubines and had never even been alone in the same room with a woman. Now who knows what happened; yesterday, he brought a child from outside to the palace. The child looked good, but it was a boy, and besides, he was too young. Isn¡¯t this a beastly thing? ¡°I think Wang Zhao has seen the light. He didn¡¯t care about the worldly things before, tsk tsk¡­ But is this like raising a skinny horse(1)? What a way to play, ah.¡± ¡°But I think Wang Zhao is really kind to that child. This morning he personally fed him the porridge spoonful by spoonful, as if it was his own son. Alas, it¡¯s not really his son, is it?¡± ¡°What are you talking about! How old is Wang Zhao now?¡± Once Fu Zhiyu was reborn, he could do whatever he wanted, and the rumours in the palace couldn¡¯t hurt him. Besides, this rumour was good for him. He wanted to make people outside think that he was really irrational now and that Mingdao was extremely favoured, so that he could protect himself and Mingdao. However, he did explain to Consort Yun clearly that the things were not like the rumours said. He just saw that the child was pitiful, helpless, and a good seedling for martial arts training, so he brought him to the palace. Consort Yun didn¡¯t dislike the child. She had always supported all her son¡¯s actions, and it was not that the palace couldn¡¯t afford to raise a kid. She had liked Yuan Mingdao very much in her previous life. After all, Yuan Mingdao was loyal to her son, in stark contrast to Xie Ke, how could she not like him? To some extent, Consort Yun inherited some of Old Mrs. Yuan¡¯s characteristics. Seeing Yuan Mingdao¡¯s thin and frail appearance, she immediately ordered the kitchen to make a lot of food. ¡°You must take good care of yourself. Why are you so thin and weak? I don¡¯t know how much you have suffered,¡± Consort Yun sighed. ¡°When Zhiyu was ten years old, he was half a head taller than you.¡± When all the gossip in the palace reached Xie Ke¡¯s ears, he seemed to be in a bad mood all day and was often in a daze. Once the emperor summoned him, it took him a while to respond. ¡°What¡¯s the matter with the boss?¡± Lu Linhai couldn¡¯t help gossiping with Du Yin again, ¡°Is it because of the Liuli Palace incident? Hey, do you think if I were a few years younger, Wang Zhao would have a crush on me? I can do it too.¡± ¡°¡­you really should stop talking,¡± Du Yin said helplessly, ¡°If you say one more word, even I will want to hit you.¡± ¡°What did I say wrong again?¡± Lu Linhai looked innocent, ¡°Can¡¯t I tell the truth? Besides, look at the boss, if he knew that Wang Zhao really had such interests, he wouldn¡¯t hold back, right? But it¡¯s useless anyway. I heard that the child is from the ancient country of the West, with green eyes, really different from us.¡± Du Yin was speechless. He thought to himself that what Lu Linhai was thinking was too simple; he had no idea what kind of character Xie Ke was. He wouldn¡¯t hold back indeed. It was the child¡­ the child¡¯s life was in danger. He had no doubt that his boss had the ability and motivation to deal with the child in the palace. But he forgot something. No matter how jealous Xie Ke was, it was impossible for him to touch Yuan Mingdao. That was the one protected by Fu Zhiyu. He really didn¡¯t dare. If he had done something, he and Zhiyu would only get farther and farther away. At this moment, Xie Ke walked out of the emperor¡¯s study, and the two stopped talking at once. Perhaps it was because of the previous incident that the emperor remembered Xie Ke deeply, or perhaps it was because Xie Ke was indeed extremely good, but among the imperial guards he was now the most favoured by the emperor. However, after just being called to the emperor¡¯s study, the man was still dead-faced, his expression hard to describe. It was probably the gloomy expression of someone whose wife was abducted. No one dared to touch him. Lu Linhai coughed guiltily a few times, and then tried to change the subject: ¡°Boss, what was the emperor looking for you for?¡± CH 24 Xie Ke glanced at Lu Linhai and replied in a low voice: ¡°The emperor wants me to participate in this year¡¯s martial arts examination.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not right, is it?¡± Lu Linhai said in surprise, ¡°The imperial guards already have an official rank, how can it be possible to participate in the selection of martial arts champions?¡± Xie Ke shook his head and corrected: ¡°It¡¯s not selection, it¡¯s supervision.¡± The plot was very different from the previous life. In the previous life, the literary examination was the responsibility of Grand Master Xu and Fu Zhiyu, and the martial arts examination was the responsibility of Lu Linhai¡¯s father, General Lu. This time, the literary examination was supervised by the Third Prince and Prime Minister Xue. In order to maintain balance and hold down these two ambitious people, General Lu was replaced with Xie Lin, accompanied by Xie Ke. This could be regarded as a very good errand. The examination happened once every three years, and the emperor and the civil and military officials watched it closely. It was easy to show off, and the emperor¡¯s intention to cultivate Xie Ke was also obvious. But Xie Ke, the beneficiary, didn¡¯t look happy at all. His face was still gloomy. Lu Linhai and Du Yin looked at each other and stopped talking sensibly. Xie Ke stood alone, slipping into a state of distraction uncontrollably again. He didn¡¯t sleep at all last night, and today he was not in good spirits. His mind kept spinning, unable to stop. Yesterday, Yuan Mingdao¡¯s glance made him think of many things in an instant, and he missed the time to stop Zhiyu. After he reacted, Zhiyu¡¯s carriage had already left. Xie Ke sat alone in the private room for a long time. He stretched out his hand carefully to touch the wine glass that Fu Zhiyu had touched, but the wine he had carefully prepared wasn¡¯t liked; Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t even drink a sip. Finally, Xie Ke drank the glass of wine slowly by himself, kissing the edge of the glass where Fu Zhiyu¡¯s fingertips had touched it. Then he drank all the jars of wine he had brought. This kind of wine was very easy to drink but it was also easy to get into one¡¯s head. Xie Ke¡¯s eyes were red after drinking it. He stayed in the private room for a long time, so long that the owner of the inn couldn¡¯t help but come over and urge him several times, her voice shaking with fear as she looked at Xie Ke¡¯s appearance. At last Xie Ke reacted, left the place and led his horse to the Xie residence. It was very late, and there was no one on the street. Xie Ke staggered along the street alone, with only the sound of horseshoes knocking on the road accompanying him. Just around the corner from the Xie residence, he heard footsteps coming from behind. Advertisements It was obvious that the person had never practised martial arts. It was extremely cold this winter, and Xie Ke could hear the man panting, as if he couldn¡¯t bear the cold. ¡°Young Master Xie, please, please stop.¡± He heard the man¡¯s voice coming from behind, and even through the haze of alcohol he could tell who that person was. After all, it was the man who had followed him almost all his life in his previous life. In particular, how could he not recognise Shen Yang, the Prime Minister who had never practised martial arts but in the end attacked him frantically and stabbed him with a knife, almost causing his mission to end early. Xie Ke slowly turned his head and looked at the familiar face. ¡°My name is Shen Yang, I¡¯m Grand Master Xu¡¯s student and I have important things to discuss with Young Master Xie.¡± Shen Yang seems to have been waiting here for a long time; his teeth were chattering from the cold, but he still stood firm. ¡°It is an extremely important thing.¡± ¡°Heh,¡± Xie Ke stared at him with bloodshot eyes and said, ¡°What important thing can you have?¡± Shen Yang stood there, startled by the beast-like look in Xie Ke¡¯s eyes, but still raised his head and said, ¡°I would like to make a deal with Young Master Xie. But this is not the place to talk.¡± Xie Ke stared at him for a long time but in the end didn¡¯t drive him away. He just turned around and said, ¡°Come with me.¡± If it were someone else, an ordinary scholar who ran over and stopped him at night and said he wanted to make a deal, he wouldn¡¯t agree to continue communicating with him so easily, but Shen Yang was different. The winter wind had already awakened him, and when he got to the place, Xie Ke was already as sober as he could be. He knew exactly what he was doing. He bought this small house a long time ago, some distance away from the Xie residence. After all, the Xie residence was not Xie Ke¡¯s home and some things were not suitable to be done there, so he got this place. Advertisements It was already late at night. The servant smelled the overwhelming smell of alcohol on Xie Ke¡¯s body and saw that he had brought someone in to talk. He had the good sense to make a pot of strong tea. After sending it in, he quickly walked away, leaving only these two people to continue talking. Shen Yang held the teacup, took a sip of tea to warm his body and frowned slightly. He saw Xie Ke staring at him across the room without the slightest hint of friendliness in his eyes. It was a kind of scrutinising look, as if measuring how many catties he weighed. ¡°I won¡¯t beat around the bush with Young Master Xie,¡± Shen Yang said, meeting his gaze, ¡°I¡¯m going to win this year¡¯s examination.¡± If others heard this, they might have laughed at him. Although Shen Yang¡¯s talent was well-known, there were many talents among the candidates, and his claim was a bit outrageous. However, Xie Ke didn¡¯t argue and only narrowed his eyes slightly. Seeing that he didn¡¯t speak, Shen Yang said loudly: ¡°I know that Young Master Xie has big plans for the future. When I reach a high position, I will serve you with all my heart and soul. I only ask you to grant me one request, to keep one person safe.¡± ¡°¡­who?¡± ¡°Wang Zhao, Fu Zhiyu,¡± Shen Yang said, ¡°From now on, Young Master Xie is free to do whatever he wants. Now that it is common knowledge that Wang Zhao has burned his brains out, he is not a threat. I just want him to have a peaceful and carefree life.¡± Xie Ke smiled and said, ¡°Shen Yang, do you know that if I tell the emperor about your words, you will be arrested as a rebel. Do you still want to win the imperial examination?¡± ¡°You won¡¯t tell,¡± Shen Yang didn¡¯t panic at all, as if he had studied Xie Ke¡¯s character and plans for a long time, ¡°I also ask Young Master Xie to rest assured that I¡¯m definitely more capable than that.¡± ¡°Capable?¡± Xie Ke raised his eyebrows and looked at Shen Yang without a smile, ¡°Is it because you think that once you¡¯ve been reborn and know what¡¯s going to happen, you have everything in place and are not afraid of anything, right?¡± Shen Yang was so shocked that the teacup in his hand fell to the ground and spilled water all over the floor. He stood up suddenly, like a rabbit with its tail caught. ¡°You! How is it possible¡­?¡± ¡°How could I know, right?¡± Xie Ke sneered, both at Shen Yang and at himself, ¡°You are not the only one who has been reborn.¡± Just as Shen Yang felt that he knew Xie Ke, Xie Ke also knew him extremely well. After Shen Yang followed him, it was not an exaggeration to say that he had completely changed. He was the Prime Minister, in power for a long time, and he had a hobby of drinking tea. At that time, the kind of tea he drank could be only called one-in-a-million kind. The tea in Xie Ke¡¯s house was certainly not bad; at least by a poor scholar, it should have been regarded as excellent tea. But Shen Yang obviously winced like that, drinking just a small sip of this tea and refusing to drink it anymore. In addition to what he said and what he did, Shen Yang, who was a poor scholar at this age in his previous life, couldn¡¯t even defend himself when he was accused of cheating. Now he dared to boast about these things in front of him; how could Xie Ke, who was stimulated by Yuan Mingdao and had a lot of thoughts, not guess this possibility? He was not stupid. CH 25 Xie Ke knew in his heart that rebooting a world was not that simple. No one had ever done it before, and even the Lord God had never done it. Besides, the world of ¡°His Name Will Live On in History¡± was a high-level world, and any accident could happen. But he only thought of Zhiyu and didn¡¯t care about these things. The possibility that Zhiyu was also reborn¡­ It was not that he hadn¡¯t thought about it, but¡­ he didn¡¯t want to face it. But when the last thing he wanted to face was likely to become a reality, Xie Ke¡¯s reaction was also very quick. During the time he stayed alone in the private room, he had already sent people to find out as much as possible about Wang Zhao¡¯s itinerary today. Although he couldn¡¯t get the full information, for example, the events in Mei Pavilion were blurry, the brothel keeper was extremely cagey and didn¡¯t dare to reveal the specific actions of Wang Zhao there, just saying that she didn¡¯t know anything, but Shen Yang was seen by many people in the Fengyue House that night. A lot could be found just after a little questioning. Xie Ke was now very sure that Shen Yang was a data that went against the current during the reboot of the world, and Yuan Mingdao was also very likely to be. They didn¡¯t matter, but Zhiyu¡­ he was afraid it was his bad luck. But he worked desperately to reboot the world so that he could see Zhiyu again, and he wouldn¡¯t give up anyway. ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry about Zhiyu,¡± After thinking about it, Xie Ke said to Shen Yang, ¡°He is mine, and I will naturally guard him.¡± ¡°You stay away from him!¡± When Shen Yang heard this, his face showed some fierceness, ¡°Didn¡¯t you hurt him enough in your previous life?¡± Xie Ke looked at him unkindly, sneered, and said, ¡°In what capacity are you here to say this to me? Are you worthy of protecting Zhiyu? At the Fengyue House today, did he talk to you? Who stole the imperial seal in the previous life and sent it to me? Shen Yang, do you really think that everything will start again, and the previous things will be written off?¡± Xie Ke¡¯s series of questions made Shen Yang¡¯s face turn pale, but saying these words was to hurt a thousand enemies by losing eight hundred of his own. Constantly reminding himself of what happened before was like a knife stabbing in Xie Ke¡¯s heart, leaving one bloody wound after another. But in front of others, Xie Ke never showed any weakness. He stood up from his seat. Although he was a few years younger than Shen Yang, he was practising martial arts and was taller than Shen Yang, a skinny scholar. He looked down at Shen Yang and said word by word: ¡°If you are willing to cooperate, you can follow me, but don¡¯t feel that you have bargaining chips to negotiate with me. Without you, I will do the same things. If you try to be a stumbling block for me, I promise you will die without a whole body. Especially for Zhiyu¡¯s affairs, I have my own plan. Do your own things. Don¡¯t interfere or disturb him again.¡± ¡°You!¡± Shen Yang was furious, ¡°You¡¯re too shameless! I was¡­ it was obviously because you lied to me! You lied to me that it would be better for Zhiyu!¡± ¡°You did it all, and you blame it all on me. Do you feel that you have done nothing wrong? Try to deceive yourself.¡± Xie Ke sneered, ¡°Get out of here. I was willing to take you in and use such a white-eyed wolf as you at that time, you should be grateful to me.¡± ¡°You!¡± Advertisements Shen Yang was so angry that he couldn¡¯t say a word. He had been reading poems and books for so long but unfortunately he hadn¡¯t learned how to curse in his two lifetimes. At this time, he couldn¡¯t get back to Xie Ke. In the end, struggling with anger, he was sent out by Xie Ke¡¯s servant. After the servant came back, seeing that his master¡¯s face wasn¡¯t good, he asked one more question: ¡°Master, did you fail to negotiate?¡± ¡°He is a bit useful but he thinks too much,¡± Xie Ke glanced at the servant and said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, he will come back. If you see him around here in the future, there is no need to drive him away. If he wants to come in, let him come in. Clean a side room for him to live in and feed him enough. If he wants to see me, just say that I will come to see him if I have time.¡± The servant nodded and quickly retreated. There were too many things last night; Xie Ke stayed up all night, and early in the morning he entered the palace to do his duty. He still carried a jade pendant in his sleeve that he had not given away. This jade pendant was the only thing the protagonist¡¯s dead mother had left him, and it was very important to the plot. In his previous life, Zhiyu had always wanted it. He really didn¡¯t mean anything else, he just wanted to get a little bit of sense of security from this thing, like a promise; but Xie Ke never gave it to him. Because according to the plot, this jade pendant was an important prop and would be of great use later, and it was impossible to give it to others. Xie Ke now thought of his previous self, and only felt ridiculous. He was stubbornly clinging to the completion of the plot and other things that he shouldn¡¯t have been clinging to. He always thought that he still had a chance to compensate Zhiyu. He was in the game but didn¡¯t know what the game was, never understanding the most important thing. All the pain after that was just retribution. He originally wanted to give the jade pendant to Zhiyu yesterday. Although he couldn¡¯t make his intentions clear all at once, at least he could make up for a little regret, which could be regarded as a sustenance. Looks like now Zhiyu will definitely not accept this jade, right? If he doesn¡¯t drop it on the spot, it will already be very kind. Xie Ke smiled bitterly; for the first time he felt helpless, felt that wherever he went it was a dead end. There is no solution to things like feelings. If he insisted on getting together at this time, it would only annoy Zhiyu. Zhiyu¡¯s attitude towards him was already obvious. Xie Ke thought Zhiyu had forgotten about the ice lake and didn¡¯t like to deal with outsiders. Now it seemed that he just wanted to stay away from Xie Ke. But if he obeyed Zhiyu¡¯s wishes and really didn¡¯t step forward, just looked at him from a distance¡­ Xie Ke felt that he really couldn¡¯t do it. Advertisements He didn¡¯t know when the number of the guards in Zhiyu¡¯s courtyard in Liuli Palace was doubled, and now Yuan Mingdao was sleeping next to Zhiyu. The child was very vigilant and woke up as soon as there was any movement. It was difficult for Xie Ke to find another chance to enter. He accepted the emperor¡¯s order and was in charge of the martial arts examination with Xie Lin. During this period of time, he was rarely in the palace and worked in the field. All in all, he hadn¡¯t seen Zhiyu for more than a month. His face expressed nothing, but he was very anxious in his heart. However, during this time, Zhiyu stayed in Liuli Palace and didn¡¯t come out, spending most of his time in his own courtyard. Even if Xie Ke followed the emperor to Liuli Palace, he could only see Consort Yun, not Zhiyu. In contrast, Fu Zhiyu was in a very happy mood. He lived an extremely easy life. He slept until he woke up naturally every day. Except for the emperor who stayed in Liuli Palace at night, he couldn¡¯t see any people he disliked. Besides, the imperial examination was approaching, and the emperor was also very busy. He had no time to visit his harem. He came to see Consort Yun once in a while, but there was not much time. As for the others, they didn¡¯t dare to offend Liuli Palace. Moreover, the Third Prince had been in the limelight recently, and the Crown Prince had no time to deal with Fu Zhiyu, which made Fu Zhiyu feel even more happy and leisurely. In the meantime, he didn¡¯t forget to ask the emperor¡¯s permission to let Old Master Yuan and Old Mrs. Yuan enter the harem once. The family had a happy day, which made Liuli Palace a lot more lively. After truly experiencing this kind of life, Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t want to go out anymore. He took a break for a while and had a good time. He was now with his mother and raising a child. He was very happy. His mother was gentle and virtuous, Mingdao was lively and cute, and he was full of joy every moment he spent with them. He finally felt that he was a real, living person. Yuan Mingdao had been nourished well in Liuli Palace. He had a lot more flesh on his face, which made him even more beautiful. He was white and pink, like a porcelain doll. ¡°Spring is coming.¡± Holding Fu Zhiyu¡¯s hand, he leaned on the window sill to look at the scenery outside. The trees in the yard began to sprout new buds. The snow had already melted; the grass wasn¡¯t there yet but was close. It was a vibrant scenery that made one smile. ¡°It¡¯s so nice.¡± Caimei next to him also agreed, ¡°The view in the imperial garden is not as good as that of Liuli Palace. The trees here are the first to grow green leaves in the whole palace.¡± Fu Zhiyu knew that Caimei¡¯s words were not flattery, and he knew very well in his heart what the reason for that was. It was just that he was not sure if it was as beneficial to people. If he mixed his blood in water or other things for his mother to consume, could her vitality become stronger, like it happened to plants? There was also the Yuan family, especially the Old Master and his wife who were old. Even if they were not harmed by others, their health was no longer good. Fu Zhiyu just wanted them to live a few more years. He hesitated for a long time. After all, this matter couldn¡¯t be explained by common sense, and they wouldn¡¯t understand what data virus infection was, but he measured the pros and cons, and finally told his mother and Mingdao about it. His mother was smart and Mingdao was loyal, they should be able to accept this matter¡­ right? CH 26 Of course, the process of explaining was a bit bumpy. Fu Zhiyu and Yuan Mingdao unanimously decided not to tell Consort Yun about the rebirth. Fu Zhiyu gathered the two to talk about the abnormality in his body, and they looked at him with extremely puzzled eyes. ¡°Well¡­ I know it¡¯s not that easy to accept all of a sudden,¡± Fu Zhiyu sighed, ¡°I can prove it for you, and you will understand.¡± Although Consort Yun didn¡¯t understand why the little one, Yuan Mingdao, was also there on such an important occasion, she still liked this child very much. He was obedient and serious; not just as smart as a ten-year-old boy, he was simply like an adult. Indeed, he was a good seedling. She also understood that Fu Zhiyu wanted to cultivate his mind, so she didn¡¯t say anything. ¡°Do you feel any discomfort?¡± It was the first thing Consort Yun worried about, ¡°Did Dr. Chen¡¯s needles harm you at that time?¡± Seeing the worried eyes of his mother, Fu Zhiyu quickly explained: ¡°No, Dr. Chen comes to see me every day. He says that I am in good health and there are no sequelae. The recovery speed is also much faster than he thought.¡± When Consort Yun heard this, the worry in her eyes still didn¡¯t recede. Even Yuan Mingdao was worried and stretched out his hand to touch Fu Zhiyu¡¯s forehead. ¡°Master¡­¡± Yuan Mingdao hesitated for a while but still said what was in his heart, ¡°Aren¡¯t you¡­ really thinking too much? This thing doesn¡¯t make any sense at all.¡± ¡°I really didn¡¯t burn out my brain!¡± Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t know whether to laugh or to cry, ¡°I¡¯ll show it to you, Mingdao, come and try to attack me.¡± ¡°No,¡± Yuan Mingdao didn¡¯t dare to do it at all and his face became serious, ¡°You can¡¯t beat me now.¡± He practised martial arts in the courtyard whenever he had free time. Although he couldn¡¯t fully recover his skills in such a short period, there was a lot he could do. ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± Fu Zhiyu comforted him, ¡°Listen to me, everything will be fine, you don¡¯t have to stop, just punch.¡± The child, Yuan Mingdao, had to obey Fu Zhiyu¡¯s words. He glanced at Consort Yun and finally stood up and moved. It¡¯s okay, he silently comforted himself. If the Master can¡¯t take it, he still has the power to quickly withdraw his fist and it will be fine. But Yuan Mingdao¡¯s punch seemed to have hit an iron plate. Fu Zhiyu reached out and caught his fist, then easily pulled him over, using Yuan Mingdao¡¯s momentum. His other hand reached out and squeezed the child¡¯s soft cheek. Yuan Mingdao: ¡°???¡± Advertisements He felt that the strength of his master suddenly increased, and he couldn¡¯t resist at all, he could only be carried by that power. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± He was astonished, ¡°Master, you¡­ you obviously don¡¯t have martial arts skills!¡± ¡°You should believe it now, there have really been some changes in me,¡± Fu Zhiyu said, ¡°The ones of the good kind.¡± The flowers and plants in the yard clearly grew very well. Of course, he couldn¡¯t deliberately pour blood on them, but he lived here for a long time and the surrounding environment was also affected. It stood to reason that Mingdao would change, and Consort Yun too, but this change was slow and might not be noticed all at once. If someone directly absorbed his blood, the effect would be obvious, but Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t dare to try it directly on people. If something really went wrong, it would be useless for him to regret it. But after saying that he wanted to do an experiment to prove it to them, Fu Zhiyu took a teacup from the table, took a hairpin from his mother¡¯s head, pricked his finger, squeezed a few drops of blood out, merged with the water in the cup, and then picked a tree at random in the yard and poured the water on its roots. After all, this was a tree. It didn¡¯t change in an instant like the pot of flowers that Fu Zhiyu tried at the beginning. He was also afraid of scaring his mother and Yuan Mingdao, so he just said to wait a few days to see what happened. This tree was originally shorter than the trees next to it. It might be that there was less sunlight in the place where it was planted. But in those days, it seemed to be re-energised. The green leaves grew quickly and abundantly, and even the blossoms were the first to bloom. Now it became the best and the most upright one in that group of trees. The reactions of Consort Yun and Yuan Mingdao were very similar. During this time, the two of them ran to the tree whenever they could, touched the leaves and looked at the blossoms, and lowered their heads to look at its trunk and its roots. If the tree was sensible, it would have probably scolded the two stinky gangsters for being shameless. Advertisements But after seeing the obvious changes in the tree, both Consort Yun and Yuan Mingdao were very serious. Fu Zhiyu¡¯s ability could be a big thing and he knew that, so he only told the two people, his mother and Mingdao. Not only out of trust; he also believed that the two of them would keep it secret and at the same time would have a normal attitude towards this matter. It also gave them the right to choose: do you want to take a risk? ¡°Let me try it first,¡± Yuan Mingdao raised his hand and said, ¡°I want to grow up quickly to protect the Master, but it takes time for my body to change. Now it would be great to have this shortcut. Besides, I have been staring at the appearance of that tree, and I believe that the Master will never harm me.¡± Fu Zhiyu had at least 95% certainty in his heart. He knew that in this world, whether it was a tree or a person, it was the same data. The method was the same, as long as you paid attention to the dosage and didn¡¯t rush it. ¡°Will it¡­ cause damage to your body?¡± Although Consort Yun understood Fu Zhiyu¡¯s thoughts and naturally wanted her parents to live longer, this couldn¡¯t be at the cost of Zhiyu¡¯s health. ¡°No,¡± Fu Zhiyu said with relief, ¡°Just a few drops of blood, I have a sense of measure.¡± As he said it, he squeezed a drop of blood into the teacup and poured some tea into it to make the blood taste less heavy. Yuan Mingdao didn¡¯t hesitate and drank it in one gulp. ¡°Do you feel anything?¡±Fu Zhiyu asked quickly, ¡°Is it uncomfortable?¡± Yuan Mingdao didn¡¯t answer immediately. He stretched out his hand and touched his face, feeling a little hot, then picked up the teapot next to him and poured a few sips of water. But the heat still didn¡¯t go down, especially in his dantian. He felt like there was a stream of heat flowing through the meridians of his whole body, not of the uncomfortable kind but as if something had been opened up. After a while, the temperature dropped, and Yuan Mingdao was sweating, but his eyes were very bright. ¡°The meridians have been opened up, and the internal strength has greatly enhanced.¡± He tried to punch, carefully feeling the changes in his body, ¡°It¡¯s just that it¡¯s a bit overwhelming. If the Imperial Noble Consort and the Old Master want to take it, they can¡¯t have so much at once. You need to mix it up, and you can¡¯t take it all at once, otherwise it might be counterproductive.¡± Fu Zhiyu nodded and said, ¡°I see.¡± Yuan Mingdao was happy for a while, then he thought of something and knelt down in front of Fu Zhiyu all of a sudden. He knew in his heart that now his master regarded him as his own younger brother. No one in the Yuan residence knew about such an important matter, only he and Consort Yun knew. Consort Yun was his master¡¯s mother and her position in his master¡¯s heart was such that Yuan Mingdao didn¡¯t dare to think about it. ¡°Please rest assured, Master, and please don¡¯t worry,¡± he kowtowed to these two people. ¡°I, Yuan Mingdao, swear on my head that I will never betray you.¡± It was Consort Yun who stepped forward to help him up and comforted him: ¡°It¡¯s fine, you don¡¯t have to swear here. Zhiyu gave you the surname of the Yuan family, brought you here and told you these things. He trusts you and really regards you as his younger brother. Naturally, this concubine also believes in you. These days, I also got to know that you are a pure and kind child. It is reasonable for Zhiyu to treat you like this. When we really leave this cage, we won¡¯t have to stick to the etiquette, we are a family.¡± Yuan Mingdao¡¯s nose was sour, and seeing that he was about to shed tears again, Fu Zhiyu hugged him. ¡°Don¡¯t think too much,¡± Fu Zhiyu coaxed softly, ¡°Just listen to me this time.¡± A few days after Yuan Mingdao drank the blood again, there was nothing unusual, just that his martial arts practice became more and more smooth. Fu Zhiyu completely relaxed, mixed his blood with some water and made a pack of pine nut candies in the kitchen. ¡°Mother, just take one a day,¡± Fu Zhiyu said. ¡°If you feel uncomfortable, you must tell me at once.¡± Because of Consort Yun¡¯s first pregnancy, her body was weak. Although she was under Dr. Chen¡¯s care, she hadn¡¯t been well for many years. If she could get better and suffer less, she would be very lucky. Consort Yun opened the small bag of pine nut candies, took out one and took a bite. The pine nut candy was crispy and sweet. After eating it, she felt warm all over her body and the warmth spread to her heart. ¡°I sent some to the Yuan residence, and I also instructed them that pine nut candy is hot food(1), so it is not advisable to eat much of it at this time of year. Just one a day is enough.¡± Fu Zhiyu said, ¡°Counting the days, when the imperial examination is over, the two uncles should also come back. I will go to the Yuan residence again then, especially to discuss some things with my younger uncle.¡± CH 27 The second son of the Yuan family, Yuan Jiangwen, had a big business in the Jiangnan area, but it was far from the capital and he was away from home for many years, so Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t see him more than ten times combined. But Yuan Jiangwen was a bright and cheerful man and had doted on his younger sister, Yuan Wanyun, since she was born. This doting spread to Fu Zhiyu as well, and every time Yuan Jiangwen came back, he would bring some rare things for Fu Zhiyu to cheer him up. ¡°Yes,¡± Consort Yun sighed, ¡°I haven¡¯t seen my two brothers for a long time, but recently, in addition to this, there is another big event.¡± Fu Zhiyu was puzzled: ¡°What big event?¡± ¡°It¡¯s your birthday,¡± Consort Yun touched his head with a look of indulgence, ¡°Zhiyu is going to be seventeen years old.¡± In this dynasty, seventeen was the coming of age for men, the age when they could take a wife, obtain a title, or take on some other responsibility. Fu Zhiyu was taken aback. If his mother hadn¡¯t mentioned this matter now, he really wouldn¡¯t have remembered it. Fu Zhiyu thought for a while and said, ¡°There is the imperial examination going on and my birthday is not a big deal. It¡¯s not appropriate to make it a big event. If it¡¯s possible, I would like to go to the Yuan residence. It would be nice for a few of us family members to get together.¡± Consort Yun smiled and said, ¡°Not yet, but maybe it will be possible in the future.¡± ¡°Not maybe,¡± Fu Zhiyu said firmly, holding her hand, ¡°it¡¯s definitely possible.¡± It was true that he didn¡¯t see Xie Ke during this time. Fu Zhiyu originally thought that now that Xie Ke knew that he was also reborn, he would be discouraged at least for a while. But it didn¡¯t take long for him to eat the melaleuca cake with the familiar taste in Liuli Palace. He could see that the ingredients of this melaleuca cake had changed for the better. After all, the ingredients in the palace were carefully selected, naturally different from the outside, but the craftsmanship of the owner of the small inn was unique. It was delicious, but it didn¡¯t mean that Fu Zhiyu wanted to eat it in the palace. After inquiring about it, he learned that the Xie family had sent a group of cooks into the palace as tribute. This one who could make some folk pastries was specially sent to the kitchen of Liuli Palace by the emperor who said that Consort Yun liked the taste of those things. ¡°I really like it. Last time I ate a few more bites of this cake at the banquet. Now the emperor sent the cook to the kitchen of Liuli Palace.¡± Consort Yun was puzzled when she heard Fu Zhiyu specifically ask about it, ¡°It¡¯s just a trivial matter. Is there any problem?¡± ¡°¡­No problem,¡± Fu Zhiyu rubbed his brow and said, ¡°I just asked casually. This cake is well made. Reward this cook with some silver. Let people treat her well in Liuli Palace. She shouldn¡¯t be short of any kind of food and clothing.¡± In the previous life, Consort Yun really liked to eat this melaleuca cake, and he often brought her some into the palace. Fu Zhiyu sent the maid next to him to ask some questions carefully. The cook said that the old lady in her family needed money for treatment, and she happened to meet a nobleman from the Xie family. She got a large sum of money and entered the palace voluntarily. It was a great blessing to be appreciated by the master and her life here was good. Advertisements After listening to this, Fu Zhiyu sighed and could only reward some more silver. That was the most he could do for the cook. Her current happiness didn¡¯t seem to be false, but what she had not yet realised was that it was both difficult to come in and go out of the palace. The cook who had been sent to the palace had to be of a certain age to go out. If you don¡¯t reach that age, you will remain as a ghost in the palace when you die. But those things could only be experienced by yourself. So, this was a very delicious cake, but Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t have the mood to taste it anymore. Xie Ke seemed to be conveying a message to Fu Zhiyu through this cake that he would never give up, and it made Fu Zhiyu even more angry. No matter what, Xie Ke would never change, he was still like that. Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t understand in his previous life why Xie Ke could always be so high and mighty. He was a concubine¡¯s son in the general¡¯s mansion but Fu Zhiyu felt the arrogance in Xie Ke¡¯s bones. At that time, he didn¡¯t understand how this arrogance was formed; he just understood it as the pride of someone relying on talent, and Xie Ke did have the talent to be proud of. But he later understood that Xie Ke, as an actor who played the protagonist, would naturally have a sense of condescension in the face of the data that had been set on the trajectory. This was higher than the strict hierarchical system of this dynasty. After all, Xie Ke was a predestined controller, and he could naturally play whatever way he wanted. What¡¯s more, it was just a tiny role, a couple who lived an ordinary life and opened an inn, and Xie Ke could arrange them in any way, even if just using one of them as a tool to please someone. Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t tell Mingdao and his mother about these thoughts. They both liked that cake. Although Fu Zhiyu couldn¡¯t eat it because of his distress, the cook could only make these pastries. If the master never ordered her pastries, or even ate less of them, it would be noticed by the people in the palace. The palace servants were used to please the winners and attack the losers. If they felt that she was unimportant, they would bully her, and he couldn¡¯t always keep an eye on her. The melaleuca cake incident made Fu Zhiyu refresh his understanding of Xie Ke again. He only felt that this man was terrible, and sure enough, he had to stay as far away from him as possible. Outside Liuli Palace, the imperial examination went very smoothly, and Fu Zhiyu heard about some things behind closed doors. Advertisements This year¡¯s top students were all from humble families, and it was no surprise that the first prize in the literary examination was taken by Shen Yang. Xie Ke didn¡¯t participate in the martial arts examination, so the man who was second in the previous life became the first. He was also a commoner, surnamed Wang. He was dark-skinned, obviously less than twenty, and looked like a small mountain. His name happened to be Wang Xiaoshan (little mountain). The emperor set up the Qionglin Banquet in the imperial garden, which was very lively. Fu Zhiyu couldn¡¯t avoid this occasion. As a prince who had already been made the Wang, it was impossible for him not to come. So he came. Anyway, Fu Zhiyu just sat on the seat he should have occupied and didn¡¯t speak. When he felt hungry, he took the fruit from the table and ate it with relish, ignoring external objects. But just because he wanted to ignore others didn¡¯t mean that others wanted to ignore him. Xie Ke¡¯s gaze alone was enough to make people uncomfortable, but Shen Yang, the winner of the first prize, didn¡¯t accept the flattery of others and had to squeeze in front of him. ¡°Wang Zhao,¡± Shen Yang saluted him, ¡°Do you remember me?¡± Fu Zhiyu swallowed the peach in his mouth, glanced at him lazily, and said, ¡°Champion Shen is now a celebrity in front of Father Emperor. How can this wang not remember?¡± ¡°It¡¯s good that Wang Zhao remembers,¡± Shen Yang didn¡¯t seem to hear the carelessness in Fu Zhiyu¡¯s tone or just didn¡¯t care and got closer with a smile, ¡°It¡¯s because of my good luck that I was favoured by the emperor, but in terms of talent, I can¡¯t compare to Wang Zhao in any way. I still remember the time when, being Grand Master Xu¡¯s student, I saw Wang Zhao¡¯s painting. It is not an exaggeration to say that it was the stroke of God.¡± ¡°Really?¡± Fu Zhiyu raised his eyebrows, ¡°But I can¡¯t do painting anymore. Champion Shen should forget the things of the past. Remembering it so clearly, you will just waste your regrets.¡± The Qionglin Banquet was a joyous occasion. This kind of banquet had always been unconventional. The emperor on his seat was also drinking happily. Although it was a little chaotic, it was lively, and he felt merry when he looked at it. Shen Yang seemed to want to say something, but some people, probably his competitors, suddenly appeared behind him and tried to pull him away. ¡°Champion Shen, let¡¯s keep drinking!¡± Those people were noisy and sincere, ¡°We won¡¯t leave until we get drunk!¡± ¡°If you don¡¯t drink, you don¡¯t give face!¡± Shen Yang couldn¡¯t deal with these people and was quickly dragged away, but he kept turning his head and looking at Fu Zhiyu. His expression seemed to be very anxious, and he kept trying to say something to Fu Zhiyu. It seemed that his mouth shape meant ¡°Be careful¡±, but it was too noisy and his words were immediately drowned in the sounds of the crowd. Fu Zhiyu ignored him, lowered his head and stuffed a piece of peach into his mouth. The peach that was offered as tribute to the palace was very sweet and moist, better than anything else at the banquet. Shen Yang left, but another person came. Fu Zhiyu heard the voice coming from behind him; low in pitch and not loud but hard to ignore. ¡°Zhiyu,¡± Xie Ke said, standing behind him at some point, ¡°I think we need to talk.¡± He no longer addressed Fu Zhiyu as Wang Zhao. They were the only ones who could hear each other¡¯s voices at such a distance, and Fu Zhiyu understood it as soon as he heard it. Xie Ke was almost certain that he was reborn. CH 28 Fu Zhiyu slowly swallowed the peach in his mouth and turned his head to look at Xie Ke. He couldn¡¯t understand the deep expression in Xie Ke¡¯s eyes, he just felt tired. ¡°If I agree to talk to you, can you leave me alone?¡± Fu Zhiyu sighed, ¡°Xie Ke, since you know what happened to me, it should be very clear to you. I don¡¯t owe you. If you really still have a heart, the farther away from me you are, the better. I will be grateful to you from the bottom of my heart.¡± Xie Ke was silent for a while, then replied: ¡°Everything else is fine, but only this is impossible.¡± ¡°¡­Then we have nothing to talk about.¡± Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t look back, ¡°You go. I can only tell you that it is best not to spend time on me, there will be no results.¡± Xie Ke didn¡¯t leave. Fu Zhiyu could feel him reaching out to touch his hand, but he reacted quickly and put his hand on the table. Xie Ke just caught the air. ¡°We really had a misunderstanding in our previous lives, a big misunderstanding,¡± Xie Ke said, ¡°¡­I¡¯m sorry, Zhiyu, I want to compensate for all the things I did to you, and I just want to tell you that this thing is really not like what it seems to you.¡± ¡°It¡¯s been a lifetime, and I don¡¯t need this compensation anymore. You¡¯re too late,¡± Fu Zhiyu said. ¡°I¡¯m fine now, and I don¡¯t need you to do anything.¡± He thought to himself that although Xie Ke knew that he was reborn, there should still be some things Xie Ke didn¡¯t know, such as the period he stayed in the system, or for example, that he actually knew it was just a book and that Xie Ke was different from others, he was an actor. Apart from him, this matter should only be known to the Lord God, and even those systems in the Lord God¡¯s space, although they had also communicated with him, didn¡¯t know exactly which world he came from. As for Xie Ke, he probably thought he was just a piece of data kept in the dark, so a little deception would be enough. Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t bother to explain that much to him; he didn¡¯t even want to talk to Xie Ke anymore. Heh, how could there be any misunderstanding in the previous life? It was nothing more than an actor who had to complete his task. Advertisements Xie Ke heard Fu Zhiyu¡¯s words and knew that he wouldn¡¯t listen to him. After thinking about it, he changed his statement: ¡°Zhiyu, you are doing well now because of the emperor¡¯s preference, but you and I both know that he won¡¯t last for a few years. After he dies, what should you do?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it.¡± Fu Zhiyu responded. Xie Ke persisted and continued: ¡°I believe you are smart enough and have time to prepare. You can get out of it safely. There is also Yuan Mingdao, and maybe you can take the Imperial Noble Consort Yun with you. But there is still the big Yuan family, can you leave them behind and not care?¡± Xie Ke hadn¡¯t connected Fu Zhiyu to the rebirth aspect before because he thought that if he had memories of the previous life, there was no way he could drink that bowl of medicine. A while ago he had really thought Zhiyu¡¯s mind was failing him, and he had even felt the need to protect him and cherish him, but now he felt he had really thought too simply. Zhiyu had obviously been too disillusioned with all these and no longer wanted to fight for anything, so he made this choice. Fu Zhiyu finally turned his head and looked at Xie Ke with unblinking eyes, his tone tinged with a faint anger, ¡°Are you threatening me with the Yuan family?¡± ¡°I won¡¯t, Zhiyu, you have to believe me. I know you care about the Yuan family, so I will protect them as my closest relatives. I promise that no matter what this dynasty becomes, I will always protect you and the people you care about, regardless of all costs.¡± Xie Ke looked directly into his eyes, with extreme tenderness in his gaze, ¡°I just want to talk to you. There is really a misunderstanding between the two of us, a big misunderstanding, but now is not the place to talk.¡± Fu Zhiyu wasn¡¯t moved by his gentleness at this moment, he just felt creeped out in his heart. He couldn¡¯t appreciate any of the good intentions that Xie Ke wanted to convey within these words, and only felt mixed emotions. ¡°¡­When do you want to meet?¡± ¡°The night after tomorrow,¡± Xie Ke heard him give in, his expression relaxed, and his whole soul felt a little happier, ¡°It¡¯s in that small courtyard in the west of the city, you know how to get there.¡± Fu Zhiyu calculated that it would be the day before his birthday. Advertisements ¡°I see,¡± Fu Zhiyu nodded, just wanting to end the conversation quickly, ¡°I will find time to come, can you go now?¡± Xie Ke, who was immediately urged to leave, wasn¡¯t unhappy either. After all, it was already a surprise to him that Fu Zhiyu agreed ¡°I will be waiting for you there.¡± Although the banquet was crowded and chaotic, he couldn¡¯t stay here for too long. After saying this, he left quickly. Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t plan to tell his mother and Mingdao about this. The matter between him and Xie Ke was very complicated, and he could only solve it by himself. The cook was already a lesson for him, and he didn¡¯t want to hurt others anymore, let alone the Yuan family. On the agreed day, he left the palace in the evening without a guard and walked towards the west of the city alone. After a while, he saw the small courtyard. Fu Zhiyu came to see Xie Ke because, on the one hand, he was really afraid that this man would hold a grudge if he didn¡¯t do what he wanted. If Xie Ke really touched the Yuan family or something, it would be too late for Fu Zhiyu to regret it. On the other hand, he actually wanted to find an opportunity to make it clear to Xie Ke, saying that he was in a very calm mood now. When he died, he still had some hatred and resentment towards him, but now there was really nothing left. He even understood Xie Ke¡¯s sense of responsibility as an actor and he also hoped Xie Ke would let it go as soon as possible without having to spend so much time and energy because of emotions like guilt, let alone imagining some kind of relationship between them that shouldn¡¯t be imagined. The friendship between gentlemen is as lukewarm as water, and if two people understand each other, the whole world will be much more peaceful. Fu Zhiyu sincerely hoped that Xie Ke would understand this truth, learn to let go, and quickly return to the life he should have as an actor, so that he could truly be happy in life. When he walked to the door of the courtyard, a servant was already there to greet him. ¡°Wang Zhao, please go this way,¡± the servant lowered his head and guided him inside. ¡°The Master has been waiting for a long time.¡± Fu Zhiyu also knew this man, an old acquaintance, called Nong Yu. Although he looked like a subordinate, he was very good at martial arts and trained under the same master as Xie Ke. Only because Xie Ke saved his life did he leave the mountain with Xie Ke and pretend to be his servant. Fu Zhiyu actually liked the character of Nong Yu. The man was very principled. In his previous life, when he was frantically clinging to Xie Ke, insisting on sticking with him, Nong Yu was always polite to him, never treating him as if he was cheap. Sometimes Fu Zhiyu found himself unbearable but he couldn¡¯t help it. Now that the situation was reversed, Nong Yu was not more enthusiastic about him. He was still polite and calm, not changing in the least. Xie Ke was really lucky to have someone like that who was still loyal to him in this life. ¡°Here we are,¡± Nong Yu stopped at the door, stretched out his hand towards the door, and guided Fu Zhiyu in. ¡°Just go in, Wang Zhao. If you have any requests, you can call me at any time.¡± Fu Zhiyu nodded to him, thanked him, then opened the door and walked in. Nong Yu reached out and closed the door after him. It was quite late and already dark outside. After Fu Zhiyu entered, he squinted his eyes a little uncomfortably. The room was actually darker than the outside. After he entered, he couldn¡¯t see anything clearly. He thought Nong Yu brought him to the wrong place. CH 29 If Xie Ke was waiting for him, why didn¡¯t he light the lamp? Before Fu Zhiyu¡¯s eyes had really adjusted to the place, he felt his wrist being caught by someone. Fu Zhiyu was startled and tried to resist but was pulled into the arms of that person. In the darkness, someone had one hand on his wrist and the other around his waist, breathing close to him. The next thing he knew, his lips were pried open and he was eagerly kissed. It was Xie Ke. It wasn¡¯t a kiss at all. He felt that Xie Ke in the dark was like a hungry wolf, nibbling on his lips as if he was feasting on them. Xie Ke¡¯s lips were very cold, but the hand holding him was hot. Fu Zhiyu was stunned for a moment but quickly reacted and struggled in Xie Ke¡¯s arms. He had obviously become a lot stronger, but he couldn¡¯t break free from Xie Ke¡¯s embrace for a long time. Xie Ke¡¯s hands were like iron hoops, and only when he had taken advantage enough, did he release Fu Zhiyu. ¡°Zhiyu has become stronger,¡± Fu Zhiyu heard Xie Ke chuckle happily, ¡°and still so sweet.¡± Fu Zhiyu raised his hand, wiped his lips vigorously and said bitterly: ¡°Are you crazy? You psychopath!¡± ¡°Yes, I am a psychopath now.¡± Xie Ke stretched out his hand to light the lamp on the table, and Fu Zhiyu saw a small wound on his lip from his own bite just now, as well as a trace of blood. Xie Ke licked his bleeding lip; the expression on his face was still very happy. He looked at Fu Zhiyu as if looking at a cat who had lost its temper and showed its claws. Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t want to talk to Xie Ke anymore, so he turned around and wanted to leave, but the door couldn¡¯t be pushed open. It was very, very heavy, like a block of iron. Fu Zhiyu was about to continue to push hard, but Xie Ke behind him quickly pulled him back. Nong Yu deliberately locked the door! Is this what people do? Fu Zhiyu had just praised him for being principled! ¡°Let go,¡± Fu Zhiyu began to struggle, ¡°Let go of me!¡± He was really wrong about Xie Ke. This man wouldn¡¯t give up because Fu Zhiyu remembered everything before. On the contrary, he felt that since Fu Zhiyu had memories anyway, after knowing him for so long, he didn¡¯t need to care about being polite and was even more unscrupulous. Xie Ke didn¡¯t let go. Enduring the pain, he only held Fu Zhiyu tighter in his arms. This time he didn¡¯t dare to kiss him again, but let him struggle. The Lord God is also a liar, Fu Zhiyu thought bitterly. Obviously he had mutated, how come he still couldn¡¯t beat Xie Ke, the actor! What kind of bastard is this man! He should have known better than to come! ¡°¡­Just let me hold you for a while, Zhiyu, just for a while.¡± He heard Xie Ke speak, his arms holding tighter and tighter, as if he was really afraid that Fu Zhiyu would escape, ¡°It¡¯s been almost two months. I only saw you once at the Qionglin Banquet. I wanted to see you every day, every night. I can¡¯t wait¡­¡± Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t hear the next words, but he could imagine that it wouldn¡¯t be anything good for him. He was really unable to break free from Xie Ke¡¯s grip. His hands and feet were held tightly and he was pressed on the soft couch. As he was about to be toppled over, the sense of crisis in his heart suddenly rose to the highest level. ¡°Do you remember?¡± Fu Zhiyu heard Xie Ke continue to speak in his ear, recalling the past that he didn¡¯t want to remember at all. ¡°We have done it many times here. You were so cute, soft and beautiful at that time. I thought at that time I could just ignore everything and just be with you¡­¡± When Fu Zhiyu heard this, his face flushed, half in shame and half in anger. He felt that Xie Ke was implying something by saying it at this time, and he couldn¡¯t help panicking. He couldn¡¯t move his arms and legs, only his head could move a little bit. Xie Ke pressed him under his body and Xie Ke¡¯s neck was next to his mouth. Fu Zhiyu¡¯s brain exploded and he bit hard. He used all his force; he wanted to make Xie Ke feel pain and quickly let go of him. But it didn¡¯t seem to be of any use. Xie Ke let out a hissing sound and still didn¡¯t let go but held tighter, until Fu Zhiyu felt that this method was really useless. Xie Ke¡¯s flesh was thick, his teeth ached and he let go. As a result, an obvious tooth mark was left on Xie Ke¡¯s neck. Fu Zhiyu did bite deeply, and it was bleeding. Advertisements ¡°¡­Zhiyu, don¡¯t worry, you are still young, I won¡¯t be such a beast,¡± Xie Ke covered his bitten neck, tracing the bloody tooth marks on it. The expression on his face became more pleasant; he lowered his head and kissed Fu Zhiyu on the cheek again, ¡°But you¡¯d better not make any extra moves.¡± He didn¡¯t continue but narrowed his eyes meaningfully. Fu Zhiyu: ¡°¡­Trash! Asshole! Let me go!¡± Xie Ke saw that he was indeed furious, his eyes red with anger, and he couldn¡¯t bear to continue. He got up but still held Fu Zhiyu¡¯s hand. He knew in his heart that if he let go at this time, Zhiyu would immediately run away. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m sorry, I was wrong, Zhiyu, don¡¯t be angry,¡± Xie Ke coaxed, ¡°I just miss you so much, I just¡­ I¡¯ve been waiting for too long.¡± In fact, in the previous life, before Fu Zhiyu¡¯s death, the two clearly still maintained an ambiguous and awkward relationship of the lovers, otherwise Fu Zhiyu wouldn¡¯t have easily drunk the wine Xie Ke brought at that time and gotten poisoned. The two of them had falling-outs in their previous lives, and sometimes very serious ones. After all, Fu Zhiyu also had his dignity, but he was always helpless in front of Xie Ke. Time and time again, Fu Zhiyu lowered his bottom line, and finally had to eat the bitter fruit. The current Xie Ke made Fu Zhiyu feel as if he had returned to his previous life. Xie Ke always felt that as long as he coaxed him, he would come back obediently. This feeling made him feel angry and aggrieved. Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t want to listen to anything Xie Ke said, but he couldn¡¯t leave, so he turned his back to him to show that he didn¡¯t want to communicate at all. ¡°I¡¯ve always wanted to do this in my previous life,¡± Xie Ke sighed, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I had too many scruples at that time and couldn¡¯t tell what was more important, but I didn¡¯t expect to hurt you in the end. Zhiyu, if I could see my heart clearly at that time, the two of us would never become like this.¡± Fu Zhiyu turned a deaf ear to his words. He pulled his trapped hand hard, but instead of freeing it, he pulled Xie Ke over. Xie Ke hugged his waist from behind, refusing to let him go, put his head gently on Fu Zhiyu¡¯s shoulder and said again: ¡°There are some things I don¡¯t know how to explain to you. You don¡¯t know anything at all¡­ If I tell you that this world is fake, you might think I¡¯m crazy. Zhiyu, I really liked you a long time ago, but for certain reasons, I couldn¡¯t be with you for the time being.¡± In fact, Fu Zhiyu knew very well about the matter of ¡°this world is fake¡±, but he was now so angry that he had no intention of pursuing this further. He only felt that this man was hopeless. ¡°Including the final order to kill me as well?¡± Fu Zhiyu sneered, ¡°If being liked by you made me live such a miserable life, then I¡¯d rather you hate me. I was blind to have been so good to you in my previous life!¡± Xie Ke was taken aback, then let out a bitter chuckle and said, ¡°No, things are really not what they appear to be. At that time, I had some misunderstandings about you, and there were some errors in my judgement of the situation. I thought it would be better for the two of us to do that, that¡¯s why¡­¡± He felt that he couldn¡¯t explain this clearly to Fu Zhiyu; the other party couldn¡¯t understand it anyway. In the end, he lowered his head and apologised seriously: ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Zhiyu, I shouldn¡¯t be so presumptuous. After everything was over, I couldn¡¯t find you¡­ I¡­¡± When Xie Ke said this, his body couldn¡¯t help trembling slightly. Fu Zhiyu felt that he seemed to be scared because of his memories, as if he had encountered a nightmare that he no longer wanted to remember. ¡°¡­It¡¯s all in the past,¡± Xie Ke hugged the person in his arms tightly, as if guarding his treasure, ¡°Zhiyu, I will never let go this time.¡± There was only one question in Fu Zhiyu¡¯s mind: how he could escape. He deeply realised that he had made a mistake, a ridiculous mistake; there was no way to communicate with Xie Ke at all. Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t believe the hardships he had just mentioned, especially Xie Ke¡¯s words that he had long liked him. He had done all those vicious things to him and now he opened his mouth and said that he liked him. Facts speak louder than words. Xie Ke was just talking nonsense hypocritically. ¡°Come at me whatever way you want but don¡¯t touch the Yuan family!¡± Fu Zhiyu warned him, ¡°Otherwise, I will die with you.¡± Xie Ke didn¡¯t know whether to laugh or to cry: ¡°Didn¡¯t you listen to what I just said? Why would I touch the Yuan family? I can¡¯t be nice enough to them¡­¡± ¡°No!¡± Fu Zhiyu¡¯s vigilance increased, ¡°The farther away you are from them, the better!¡± ¡°Okay, it¡¯s all up to you.¡± ¡°Then you stay as far away from me as possible too.¡± ¡°¡­Baby, this is not okay.¡± Xie Ke couldn¡¯t help but kiss him on the cheek again, ¡°I just came back for you only.¡± In the end, Fu Zhiyu and Xie Ke¡¯s conversation collapsed. The process was a mess, the two finally broke up unhappily, and Fu Zhiyu left in anger. Of course, maybe it was just a unilateral unhappy breakup; at least Xie Ke had taken enough advantage and was still a little happy in his heart. Seeing Fu Zhiyu¡¯s expression of displeasure, Nong Yu estimated that it would be difficult for his master to trick people into coming here again. He walked into the room to see Xie Ke, but was taken aback by his appearance. There was a cut on his lip that was still bleeding and an obvious tooth mark on his neck. Xie Ke was rubbing his chest. Nong Yu knew that Fu Zhiyu was angry before he left and slammed Xie Ke with his elbow quite cruelly. ¡°¡­It¡¯s not the way of courting someone,¡± Nong Yu couldn¡¯t help but comment on his master¡¯s private life, ¡°Be nice and gentle at the beginning, and take your time. How can anyone use such a method at once?¡± Xie Ke smiled wryly and said, ¡°You don¡¯t understand. I used to think like you, but then I realised that it was useless to take my time. He doesn¡¯t have me in his eyes now, and he can¡¯t wait to treat me as a stranger. When he was angry with me, I felt better than before. At least he could still see me.¡± Nong Yu stopped talking. He had never been in a relationship and he couldn¡¯t evaluate the love life of others. He walked to the shelf, took the medicine powder, walked to Xie Ke¡¯s side and said, ¡°At least let me put the medicine on it. You will go to the emperor tomorrow. This is not a good look.¡± Xie Ke touched the corner of his mouth, took the medicine and said, ¡°I¡¯ll do it myself.¡± ¡°What about the neck?¡± Nong Yu pointed to his neck, ¡°Master can¡¯t see there, do you need me to apply it?¡± ¡°No,¡± Xie Ke shook his head, groped and touched the tooth marks on his neck, and even smirked, ¡°If I wear a dress with a higher collar, others won¡¯t be able to see it. I want to keep this.¡± Nong Yu: ¡°¡­As you wish.¡± For a moment, he really felt that his master was a bit perverted. Wang Zhao was so pitiful that he actually caught the eye of a person like him. Nong Yu knew Xie Ke¡¯s character very well. He would never let go of what he wanted. He would wrap around like a snake and hold on until the opponent went soft. ¡­Although it was a bit wrong to evaluate one¡¯s master in this way, it was a fact, Nong Yu thought honestly. Advertisements After Nong Yu left, Xie Ke casually sprinkled some powder on the wound on his face, and then spoke softly, as if talking to himself. ¡°027, are you there?¡± After a while, a voice sounded, a mechanical voice that could never appear in this period of time. ¡°Yes, can I help you? Three minutes at most, I need to hibernate for a long time before I can recover.¡± ¡°I know,¡± Xie Ke said, ¡°But I think Zhiyu is a little strange. He has become very strong. It can¡¯t be explained by the internal strength of the martial arts of this dynasty. I am worried about whether this will cause him any harm.¡± ¡°This is the world that was forcefully rebooted. It stands to reason that any unexpected situation can happen, and certain data abnormalities in this process will not be corrected. After all, this world is no longer under the supervision of the Lord God,¡± the mechanical voice explained. ¡°Relying on your description alone, I can¡¯t judge whether this is good or bad.¡± Xie Ke said helplessly: ¡°Okay. I have found several abnormal data that have come back together. Zhiyu¡­ unfortunately, is also in this group.¡± ¡°Fu Zhiyu¡¯s data should be particularly abnormal, and it can no longer be counted as a coincidence,¡± the mechanical voice said. ¡°Sorry, I made a mistake in judgement last time. I have worked for so many years and I have never seen anyone so abnormal.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t blame you. It was my mistake in judgement and my own decision. Now Zhiyu refuses to forgive me and I deserve it,¡± Xie Ke sighed. ¡°Go ahead and sleep, I won¡¯t bother you.¡± ¡°Goodbye.¡± The mechanical voice finally admonished, ¡°You have to be more careful in this world.¡± Xie Ke didn¡¯t say anything; he stretched out his hand and touched the tooth mark that Fu Zhiyu had left on his neck. It was painful, and it hurt when he touched it, but this was the trace left by Zhiyu. For Xie Ke, even the pain had a hint of sweetness in it. It was already quite late when Fu Zhiyu returned to Liuli Palace. Consort Yun slept well recently and went to bed early but Yuan Mingdao couldn¡¯t sleep and kept waiting. ¡°Master!¡± When Yuan Mingdao heard the movement, he stood up and ran out, relieved to see that Fu Zhiyu was okay. Fu Zhiyu was taken aback, quickened his steps, walked forward, picked up the child and said, ¡°Mingdao? Why are you still awake so late?¡± ¡°I can¡¯t sleep if you don¡¯t come back,¡± Yuan Mingdao hugged his neck with both arms and asked a series of questions, ¡°Why did you come back so late? I thought something happened and wanted to go out and look for you, but the maid wouldn¡¯t let me go out. Didn¡¯t you say you¡¯d come back in a while?¡± Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t tell him about going to see Xie Ke. He knew that if he told Mingdao about it, the kid would definitely do everything he could to stop him from going. However, he admitted that this trip was a mistake; Mingdao was right, he shouldn¡¯t have gone to see Xie Ke. This man was unreasonable, and there was really no point in talking to him. ¡°There was a little delay, it¡¯s all right now,¡± Fu Zhiyu said soothingly, ¡°I¡¯ll take you with me whenever I go out in future.¡± Yuan Mingdao was now happy and much relieved, and hugged him without letting go. Only when Fu Zhiyu was with him did he feel that his mood slowly calmed down. If Fu Zhiyu had learned anything in the Lord God¡¯s space, it was probably how to better control his temper. He could let go of those things that made him unhappy faster and wouldn¡¯t let himself sulk. It was late, and he was a little tired now. After washing up casually, he lay on the bed and fell asleep quickly. After sleeping until the next morning, Fu Zhiyu stretched out. The spring sun was very comfortable, as if the unpleasantness in his heart last night had passed. Today was his birthday, so there was no need to feel unhappy over some Xie Ke. Just think about it as if about being bitten by a dog. Fu Zhiyu thought that when he saw Xie Ke in the future, he would walk past without saying a word to him. Anyway, Xie Ke couldn¡¯t fight against the imperial power now and when he could, Fu Zhiyu would have already run away. This continent was so big. When he escaped with his mother and Mingdao, Xie ke wouldn¡¯t be able to find him. This man didn¡¯t make sense. Fu Zhiyu really didn¡¯t want to bother to deal with him. The more he dealt with him, the more motivated Xie Ke was. Instead of talking to him, he would better spend time with Mingdao and his mother. In time, Xie Ke should realise that this path was really unworkable, so he would give up. If Xie Ke was still so stubborn by then, then there was nothing Fu Zhiyu could do. Xie Ke could toss and turn as he liked; anyway, Fu Zhiyu would already escape. Now in Fu Zhiyu¡¯s eyes, Xie Ke was actually no different from the Third Prince and Shen Yang and belonged to a group he didn¡¯t have to pay attention to until he absolutely had to. In this fake data world, it was not easy to grasp the people you cared about. Why bother to spend time with these unfortunate people and make yourself feel bad? It was pointless. Now the safest place was in the palace. After all, Xie Ke and the others didn¡¯t dare to mess around here, and the guards were still very strict. Fu Zhiyu stayed at home without any psychological burden. Today, on his seventeenth birthday, he didn¡¯t make a big deal out of it, just as he wished. The ceremony took only an hour to complete routinely. Emperor Qingyuan had been very busy recently and only visited during lunch. After lunch together, he praised Fu Zhiyu for his diligence and gentleness and then hurried back to the imperial study to approve the memorials. So, Fu Zhiyu stayed with his mother and Mingdao for an afternoon, roasting meat and chestnuts in the pavilion of Liuli Palace, feeling extremely happy. But at night, when he returned to his house and lay on the bed, he felt something under his waist, pricking him. He panicked and pushed away the quilt to see that someone had put a small box on his bed. The box was precious at first glance. It was carved from a whole piece of bloodstone. He opened it suspiciously and saw a small note inside. The note said: Zhiyu, happy birthday. I will always love you. Although there was no signature, Fu Zhiyu quickly recognised that this was Xie Ke¡¯s handwriting. He felt so angry that he immediately burned the note. But there was nothing in this box except the note. What did Xie Ke want? Fu Zhiyu was puzzled for a while. Did he have so much money that he could get such a box just to drop him a note? Fu Zhiyu originally wanted to throw away the bloodstone box, but this box seemed very special. Not to mention the precious material, the pattern engraved on it was a bit like the style of the Western regions. Such a thing was rare in the capital and very different from the decoration style in the palace. Even if it was broken and thrown away, the pattern and material could be noticed. He was worried that if it was discovered, there might be some additional rumours. There were many spies in Liuli Palace. Although he was very reluctant to keep Xie Ke¡¯s things, for safety reasons, Fu Zhiyu opened the hidden compartment at the head of the bed and quickly threw the box in, swearing that he would never open it again and would pretend as if nothing had happened. His mood for the day was a little imperfect because of this thing, but fortunately, he quickly put this unpleasantness behind him. Soon after, Fu Zhiyu received the news that made him feel good again. It was a letter from the Yuan family that his two uncles would return to the capital soon. When the news was delivered to Liuli Palace, even Consort Yun and Yuan Mingdao were in a good mood, especially Yuan Mingdao. ¡°Yuan Lu is coming back too, right? And Sister Yuan Xi.¡± The two Yuan Mingdao mentioned were the children of the two uncles of the Yuan family. They were Fu Zhiyu¡¯s cousins. Both of them were kind-hearted people, but unfortunately¡­ Yuan Mingdao sighed again at the thought and said, ¡°Alas, by all accounts it¡¯s been a long time since we have seen each other¡­¡± Fu Zhiyu smiled and said nothing. He knew very well in his heart that in his previous life, the Yuan family¡¯s disaster had happened entirely because of him. In this life, he had already kept a low profile, and the Crown Prince had neither the reason nor the ability to make a move against them at present. If they retreated in advance before the chaos, the Yuan family would probably be able to avoid this tragedy. It was Xie Ke who became the most unstable factor. Fu Zhiyu couldn¡¯t believe his promise. Although Xie Ke was known as a man of his word outside, the lessons of blood and tears told Fu Zhiyu that this person had no integrity as far as he was concerned. No matter what, he still needed to communicate with the Yuan family. Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t tell Old Master Yuan and Old Mrs. Yuan about many things. They were old and this would only put a strain on their hearts and minds if they had to hide a secret. But the two uncles of the Yuan family were different. Fu Zhiyu and his mother had also discussed this matter; some things still had to be revealed, but the specific information to be revealed depended on the situation. ¡°It¡¯s not that I don¡¯t trust my brothers, but it¡¯s not a good thing for them to know too much.¡± Consort Yun sighed and said, ¡°At that time, when my eldest brother heard about my miscarriage, he lost his temper on the spot. In front of many people, he scolded that man, who was already the emperor at the time, for his treachery and forgetfulness and being worse than an animal, and the family didn¡¯t stop him. The eldest brother lay in ambush for several days and actually found an opportunity to put a sack on the emperor and beat him up. Although it was to relieve his anger, it was too impulsive. Fortunately, the emperor still had some conscience at that time. He remembered the kindness of the Yuan family to him in the past, or maybe he was too concerned about his face. Anyway, he didn¡¯t want to talk about this matter and didn¡¯t take revenge. He just appointed my eldest brother to the frontier. Although the official position is not low, there has been little opportunity to return to the capital for many years.¡± When Consort Yun said this, her face was very sad, and she added: ¡°Although I also think that my eldest brother did the right thing and he is dedicated to me, the world is complicated, and many things are not that simple. I¡¯m afraid if he thinks that you and I have suffered some grievances this time, he will do something reckless.¡± CH 30 Fu Zhiyu comforted her: ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I will make it clear to him. Besides, Mother has been named the Imperial Noble Consort, and I have been named Wang Zhao. This seems to be getting better and better, how can we have suffered?¡± Consort Yun smiled reluctantly; she still didn¡¯t look very happy. Fu Zhiyu knew why his mother was unhappy. When the two uncles came home, she couldn¡¯t go back to the Yuan residence to visit. The rules about consorts leaving the palace were very strict. In the last three years, the only time his mother had left the palace was the great ceremony a few months ago, but it was at Longquan Temple and the scope of activities was limited, so it was no different from being in the palace. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Mother,¡± Fu Zhiyu said, ¡°I will try my best to find a chance for you and my uncles to meet.¡± After she got this promise, Consort Yun smiled a little. In order to go to the Yuan residence, Fu Zhiyu took Yuan Mingdao out of the palace in the morning a few days later. It was early and the sky on the horizon just started to brighten. It was still very cold at this time in the spring. Fu Zhiyu put on a thick cloak on himself and Mingdao. The reason he picked this time of day was not only to get to the Yuan residence earlier, but also because it was the time of the court and Xie Ke had to be at the emperor¡¯s side, so there would be no chance of meeting him. Indeed, Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t meet Xie Ke in the imperial garden this time, but when he passed by there, he heard a loud noise, as if someone was arguing. Yuan Mingdao held Fu Zhiyu¡¯s hand and said, frowning when he heard the voices: ¡°Which palace maidservants and eunuchs don¡¯t know rules like this? So noisy in the imperial garden early in the morning.¡± ¡°We have things to do today, leave them alone,¡± Fu Zhiyu said, ¡°Let¡¯s go quickly, the carriage outside the palace is already waiting.¡± He didn¡¯t even take an imperial carriage in order to go faster. That thing was prestigious but in fact, it was very slow and it had to take the main road. The fastest way to get from Liuli Palace to the palace gate was to take the shortcut through the imperial garden¡¯s flower viewing path, but it seemed that every time he walked there, he had to encounter someone. He had met Xie Ke last time, what was it this time? A little further on, the noise became more obvious. ¡°¡­Today I will teach you a good lesson for the Thirteenth Prince!¡± Listening to this harsh sentence, Fu Zhiyu couldn¡¯t help but prick up his ears. He wondered if he was in conflict with the feng shui of the imperial garden. Every time he walked here, he would see people he didn¡¯t want to see. It was Momo Gui from Linyue Tower, another nasty acquaintance. Advertisements Although she was a Momo, she was not very old, just in her thirties, and she was raised in the palace, so she didn¡¯t look old. She was originally the dowry maid of the Noble Consort Xue. Later, when the Eighth Prince Fu Rongli was born, she was also the nursemaid of the prince for a while, and then she often served by Fu Rongli¡¯s side. This woman was very powerful and loyal. She regarded Fu Rongli as her own son. In the previous life, she died to save Fu Rongli. But she was indeed arrogant and domineering. She was in charge of all the eunuchs and palace maids in Linyue Tower. Consort Xue relied on her in big and small things. Her masters treated her so well that some low-ranking consorts didn¡¯t dare to provoke her, and even some unpopular princes had to be careful with her. The proof was right in front of them. The Thirteenth Prince Fu Yanran was only eleven years old this year, about the same age as Yuan Mingdao. Fu Zhiyu saw him rarely, and it took a while to recognise him. He was standing on the stone path of the imperial garden with a horrified expression on his face, tears still hanging on his eyelashes, and his clothes were in a mess. His maidservant knelt in front of Momo Gui. Her face was obviously swollen and red, but Momo Gui¡¯s hand was still raised high. It seemed that she hadn¡¯t beaten the maid enough. Even when Fu Yanran gathered all his courage to stand in front of the maid, he was rudely pulled away by the other maids beside Momo Gui. This scene looked a bit ridiculous. It was clear who was high and who was low, and a slave stepped on the master¡¯s head. But there were too many children in the palace. Emperor Qingyuan was really an excellent stallion. Within a few months of Fu Zhiyu¡¯s return, two children were born, one female and one male, numbered seventeen and eighteen. There were so many princes, but not many of them had the power to fight for the throne. The one in the Eastern Palace (the Crown Prince) and the Noble Consort Xue¡¯s sons stole most of the limelight, and Fu Zhiyu consciously withdrew. Except for them, only Consort Wen¡¯s family had some background, but her Sixteenth Prince was just three years old and was unlikely to have enough time to grow up to fight for the throne. Therefore, the two-level differentiation in the palace was particularly obvious. Emperor Qingyuan was also very biassed. It was estimated that if half of the eighteen princes and princesses had changed their clothes and stood in front of him, he wouldn¡¯t recognise his own children. This palace was too big and there were too many people. There was always something that the emperor couldn¡¯t take care of or perhaps didn¡¯t have patience enough to take care of. The situation where an unpopular prince was inferior to a favoured slave was not uncommon. When Fu Zhiyu walked up, Momo Gui stood with her back to him and didn¡¯t see him, but the Thirteenth Prince saw him. He suddenly cried out and sat down on the ground abruptly. ¡°Ninth Brother!¡± He roared with all his strength, ¡°Please, please save Ah Ye!¡± Fu Zhiyu had already walked up here, so naturally he couldn¡¯t just watch this matter and leave. Fu Yanran¡¯s words were also a bit useful. At least Momo Gui and the others heard them, so they immediately stopped, turned around and knelt on the ground. ¡°Please, Wang Zhao,¡± Momo Gui lowered her head but kept talking, ¡°This old slave is here to teach the disobedient palace maid and doesn¡¯t want to disturb Wang Zhao. Begging for Wang Zhao¡¯s forgiveness.¡± After Fu Zhiyu took a few steps forward, he saw a broken bowl on the road and a wooden tray on the side. He felt some medicinal smell and saw that there was a brown trace of medicine on the kneeling maidservant. The picture was almost clear. Advertisements ¡°But the palace rules don¡¯t say that the Momo of Linyue Tower can teach the maids from other palaces,¡± Fu Zhiyu pondered for a moment as if unable to remember. After thinking for a while, he asked Fu Yanran, ¡°By the way, which palace are you from?¡± Fu Yanran sniffed, sobbed and said, ¡°Hua¡­ Hua Ruixuan.¡± ¡°Yes, according to palace rules, Hua Ruixuan¡¯s palace maid should be punished by the senior maidservant of the palace. If not, it should be the maidservant who has a higher position than Hua Ruixuan¡¯s senior maidservant,¡± Fu Zhiyu smiled, turned his head and said sarcastically, ¡°It¡¯s not the turn of a palace maid to boss people around here. I think it¡¯s Momo Gui who¡¯s used to running roughshod over the palace and is bullying people here.¡± ¡°The slave doesn¡¯t dare,¡± Momo Gui bowed her head even lower. ¡°It was this girl who didn¡¯t understand the rules and ran recklessly in the imperial garden, knocking over the medicine of the Eighth Prince. The medicine is made of precious material and the imperial doctor has prepared just the right amount, not a drop less can be used. Such a big mistake should be punished.¡± Although she said she didn¡¯t dare, Momo Gui¡¯s words were still arrogant and domineering through and through. Fu Zhiyu knew that she was sure that he wouldn¡¯t punish her for this trivial matter. It wasn¡¯t that Momo Gui was arrogant, she just had experience in this matter. In the past, Liuli Palace wouldn¡¯t take the initiative to cause trouble in the imperial palace, let alone face Linyue Tower for the Thirteenth Prince who didn¡¯t have any connection to them. It was not out of fear. If Consort Xue took the initiative to cause trouble, Consort Yun would fight back every time, but the matter in front of them had nothing to do with Liuli Palace. The Third Prince did a good job during the imperial examination and won a lot of praise from the emperor. Even the Eighth Prince was finally praised by the emperor for his participation. Linyue Tower was now in the limelight. There were also rumours that the emperor was about to give the Third Prince the title of the Wang and make the Noble Consort Xue the Imperial Noble Consort. Even the Eastern Palace had to give in a little at this time, and there was no need for others to step on the minefield. But Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t care about it. He took a step forward and said, ¡°Really? I do think that medicine is always three points poison. Eighth Brother is already in good health. After drinking it for so long, maybe it¡¯s better for his body to drink less medicine today?¡± ¡°¡­you!¡± Momo Gui raised her head angrily. She knew why the Eighth Prince was still taking medicine. It was because of Fu Zhiyu that Fu Rongli had been whipped. The injury hadn¡¯t completely healed yet, and it hurt when he moved a little bit more. Because of this, the Eighth Prince could count the times of going out on the fingers of one hand, and Momo Gui was distressed when she looked at him. But this was Wang Zhao in front of her, not some unknown prince. Although Momo Gui¡¯s tone was harsh, she didn¡¯t dare to really offend this one. ¡°I don¡¯t know whether Hua Ruixuan¡¯s palace maid made a mistake or not, but Momo Gui makes a lot of noise in the imperial garden in the morning, disturbing my peace and blocking the way. This is really unwarranted and should be punished. Look, you even scared Thirteenth Brother.¡± Fu Zhi glanced at Fu Yanran and asked, ¡°Tell me, how many times did she slap your maid?¡± Fu Yanran raised his hand and wiped his face, and then said loudly: ¡°She was the one who spilled the medicine when she ran into Ah Ye, and Ah Ye has already knelt down and apologised! She still won¡¯t let her go, hitting her at least twenty times!¡± Fu Zhiyu stretched out his hand and called the guard by his side, saying, ¡°Go ahead. But Momo Gui is an old woman, so this wang will spare her some. Just make it ten times. After that, get out of here.¡± Momo Gui endured the punishment with a grimace, covered her face and left. Before leaving, Fu Zhiyu also saw her glaring viciously at the maid named Ah Ye. Ah Ye cried even more severely after Momo Gui left. Fu Zhiyu saw her holding the hand of the Thirteenth Prince and sob while saying, ¡°The prince shouldn¡¯t have done this, he really shouldn¡¯t¡­ let her be angry, it¡¯ll be over this time, but if she hates you like this, what can you do in the future?¡± This was a sensible person, but Fu Yanran didn¡¯t listen. He stubbornly said: ¡°No matter what, I am still the prince. If she comes looking for trouble again, I will hit my head on the pillar and see if she dares to bear the responsibility of killing the prince! Anyway, I won¡¯t let them bully you anymore!¡± Ah Ye shook her head desperately, unable to speak as she cried. Fu Zhiyu, who was listening clearly from the side: ¡°¡­¡­¡± He had to say that Fu Yanran¡¯s idea was correct. The child was still young and he must have been frightened just now, so he didn¡¯t react at once. Dealing with such a domineering person, he needed to be more rogue than her. This child was quite smart and ruthless, but Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t care much about him in his previous life and he basically wasn¡¯t mentioned in the original book, so Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t expect him to be so interesting. One plot of this world was more interesting than the other, including the people. After Fu Yanran finished speaking, he remembered something. He ran a few steps in the direction of Fu Zhiyu, stopped in front of him, knelt down and knocked his head. Before Fu Zhiyu reached out to help him, he stood up again and said, ¡°Thank you, Ninth Brother¡­ No, thank you, Your Imperial Highness Wang Zhao.¡± ¡°¡­It¡¯s fine.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not just this matter,¡± Fu Yanran raised his sleeves and wiped his face casually, and said seriously, ¡°Before, Wang Zhao was sick. Because I often went to the Imperial Hospital to ask for medicine for my mother consort during that time and the Imperial Court of Judicial Review couldn¡¯t find any clues, my mother consort and I were almost forced to surrender. Then Wang Zhao told Father Emperor he didn¡¯t want to pursue this matter, and my mother consort and I were spared.¡± Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t say anything, thinking what a sensible child it was. So young, he already understood those things clearly, and Fu Zhiyu hadn¡¯t even heard of him. But he didn¡¯t ask more questions; he just thought for a while and said, ¡°Thirteenth Brother, you have to know that I didn¡¯t do these things for you. I didn¡¯t know about the Imperial Court of Judicial Review¡¯s actions. As for Momo Gui, I have long been displeased with her.¡± Fu Yanran glanced at him firmly and said, ¡°I know, but you still helped me. I will always remember this kindness. Wang Zhao, in the future, I will repay you.¡± He said the latter sentence carefully word by word but Fu Zhiyu really didn¡¯t take it to heart. He only felt that Fu Yanran was young and wanted to speak like a valiant man of Jianghu. Not all his teeth had grown yet and his speech was stumbling. It would be nice if he could protect himself, what¡¯s the point of talking about repaying? Fu Zhiyu finished solving the matter and looked at the sky. It was getting late, and he had to rush. Fu Yanran also slowly helped his maid to walk away. Yuan Mingdao was a little worried and asked Fu Zhiyu in a low voice, ¡°Is it fine?¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay, I have a sense of proportion and I won¡¯t cause trouble to Mother Consort.¡± Fu Zhiyu comforted him, ¡°Moreover, what I just said is the truth. I really didn¡¯t do this for Fu Yanran. Momo Gui and I have a grudge, and I just had a chance to vent my anger. You don¡¯t know, when I was four years old, Fu Rongli was defeated by me in reciting and cried all night in anger. This woman secretly gave me medicine. Although it wasn¡¯t fatal, just an allergy, it made me uncomfortable for many days. At that time I came into contact with too many people and I didn¡¯t know who did it, but later I learned that it was her.¡± This was also true. Fu Zhiyu never knew who it was in his previous life, but it was mentioned in the original book. It was deliberately done by Momo Gui out of spite. ¡°But at this time¡­¡± Although Yuan Mingdao was angry about what happened to Fu Zhiyu and felt emotionally that Momo Gui deserved this punishment, after all, he had the soul of an adult and he was still worried rationally. He reminded, ¡°Now Linyue Tower has a great time.¡± Fu Zhiyu patted him on the head and said with a smile: ¡°It¡¯s only great at this moment. Don¡¯t worry, Linyue Tower will soon have no time to bother with Liuli Palace about the trivial matters of the servants.¡± Yuan Mingdao tried hard to recall, but he was still practising martial arts in the Yuan family at that time in his previous life, and he really didn¡¯t know what was going on outside. But Fu Zhiyu knew very well that the Crown Prince Fu Lingxiao wouldn¡¯t let Fu Rongye go big. In his previous life, in order to target him, Fu Lingxiao had planted spies and created a fraud case that shocked the court. Although the target in this life was changed, the Crown Prince hated Fu Rongye as much as he hated Fu Zhiyu. The troubles he had experienced before were now left to Fu Rongye, who was in the limelight. Whether Fu Rongye could survive depended on his own abilities. Fu Zhiyu calculated the days; it was almost today. At that time, Linyue Tower would hardly have time to worry about Momo Gui. ¡°This is the real ¡®dog bites dog¡¯, you have to wait and see.¡± Fu Zhiyu said to Yuan Mingdao leisurely as he quickly left the palace and sat comfortably in the prepared carriage. CH 31 As for whether someone would suspect him of pretending to be stupid because of this matter, it was even more impossible. Fu Zhiyu knew his own previous character well. If he had met this incident in his previous life, he might be willing to help, but he used to think too much back then. For fear of causing trouble to Liuli Palace, he would have never come forward and would basically help secretly. In the past, it would never have been possible for him to punish someone directly. However, it was better to do things openly than in secret, and it was indeed better to live completely according to one¡¯s own wishes than to have one¡¯s hands and feet tied. ¡°Sometimes, ordinary people live happier than smart people,¡± Fu Zhiyu said to Yuan Mingdao with emotion. ¡°The more you think about things, the more unhappy you are.¡± When Yuan Mingdao heard this, he was relieved. As for the Thirteenth Prince, Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t care much about him. He couldn¡¯t keep an eye on him, he didn¡¯t know him well enough, and it was good enough that he agreed to help him. There were too many wretched people and unfair things in the palace for Fu Zhiyu to be able to manage alone, and it was already very kind of him to protect Fu Yanran for a while. ¡°It¡¯s up to him,¡± Fu Zhiyu sighed, ¡°Everyone has their own way of living.¡± What happened after that was not much different from what Fu Zhiyu had imagined. Momo Gui returned to the palace, covering her face in anger. When Fu Rongli saw her like this and heard the whole story, his face instantly darkened. He was almost in good health now, and he was sent by Fu Rongye to help with the imperial examination. In fact, it really didn¡¯t matter whether he drank the medicine or not. ¡°I told you that Fu Zhiyu was not stupid!¡± He felt like he had caught something, and said bitterly, ¡°Speaking in such a shady manner, as annoying as always! Let¡¯s go, let¡¯s go find Mother Consort and Brother!¡± However, Fu Rongye was busy at the moment and was not in the palace. When Consort Xue heard what happened, although she was also angry, she didn¡¯t agree with Fu Rongli in some ways. ¡°Li¡¯er, he will pay for this insult. Momo Gui will certainly not suffer this grievance in vain. Whether it is Liuli Palace or Hua Ruixuan, this concubine wants them to know who is in power in this palace now,¡± Consort Xue stretched out her hand and touched the pearls on her head, and then continued. ¡°However, Fu Zhiyu not being stupid is not the matter to draw conclusions easily. He has never been so arrogant before, he was always doing evil in secret, just like his mother consort, looking like a white lotus but having a black heart. Now that he dares to be so straightforward, it just shows that his brain is broken and he has no idea what he¡¯s doing.¡± ¡°Mother Consort!¡± Fu Rongli jumped to his feet anxiously, ¡°Why don¡¯t you believe me!¡± Consort Xue had been completely convinced by Fu Rongye now. All the limelight for Linyue Tower came from the imperial examination. If Fu Zhiyu wasn¡¯t stupid, how could he hand over such a good errand to someone? ¡°It¡¯s not that Mother Consort doesn¡¯t believe you,¡± Consort Xue said patiently, ¡°But you should also learn more from your brother. Sometimes you shouldn¡¯t just be angry, you have to be realistic and look at the facts, right?¡± Fu Rongli couldn¡¯t suppress his anger: ¡°I won¡¯t talk to you anymore! I¡¯ll tell my brother! He will definitely believe me!¡± Advertisements As soon as he said that, Fu Rongye walked in, but his face was distorted and gloomy. He asked in a low voice, ¡°What¡¯s all the noise about?¡± Consort Xue was delighted when she saw her elder son and quickly beckoned: ¡°Ye¡¯er, come and sit down, Mother Consort has just asked the kitchen to make your favourite dish¡­¡± ¡°Favourite dish?! How can I be in this mood now to eat!¡± Fu Rongye¡¯s face became even more ugly, ¡°Something big has happened!¡± Consort Xue was taken aback, quickly sent away her attendants and asked, ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± Fu Rongye sat down next to her and said solemnly: ¡°The imperial examination.¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t that over already? The emperor is obviously also very satisfied¡­¡± ¡°The imperial censor found out the fraud and said that the test questions were leaked. Father Emperor already knows about this matter and has just started an investigation.¡± Fu Rongye¡¯s expression got worse and worse, as if about to drip black water. ¡°If it¡¯s true, this is a big problem for us. I suspect that there is that demon behind it.¡± ¡°It must be Fu Zhiyu!¡± Fu Rongli looked as if he had guessed something, ¡°It¡¯s him! I told you he was not stupid!¡± ¡°What do you know?¡± Fu Rongye glared at him as if he was an idiot, ¡°What does this matter have to do with him? I¡¯m talking about Fu Lingxiao!¡± Fu Rongli was scolded by his brother and didn¡¯t dare to speak again. He lowered his head. After a long time, he said in a deep voice: ¡°Then¡­ What about Momo Gui?¡± ¡°Is this what you care about at this time? Momo Gui?¡± Fu Rongye reprimanded him, ¡°If there is really a problem with the imperial examination, we, and the entire Xue family, will not be able to escape, and you will not be spared. Put all your thoughts on this. Be quiet and don¡¯t cause me trouble outside!¡± Fu Rongli grumbled for a long time, but he also knew the importance of this matter, so he obeyed and stopped talking. While Linyue Tower was in a mess, Fu Zhiyu had already gotten into the carriage to go to the Yuan residence and slowly proceeded along the street in front of the palace to the market. At this hour, the outside was already lively. He smelled the smell of steamed buns coming from outside, as well as the smell of oil poured on the wheat noodles. He had eaten breakfast, but he was a little hungry. Fu Zhiyu couldn¡¯t resist and asked someone to buy a bowl of Yang Chun noodles, and shared it with Yuan Mingdao. Instead of going directly to the Yuan residence, he took a detour to go to the pastry shop in the east of the city to buy some pastries that his family liked. But if he went this way, he would pass by Grand Master Xu¡¯s house. When the carriage passed there, he couldn¡¯t help but lift the curtain and take a look. Grand Master Xu was his respected teacher. Although he had a bad temper, he was knowledgeable and taught Fu Zhiyu to write and draw. A lot of Fu Zhiyu¡¯s knowledge had come from him, but now he had to let his teacher down. After Fu Zhiyu returned to the palace, he heard that Grand Master Xu was sick. He sent a few messages but they were rejected. The Xu residence was closed to visitors for a long time, only saying that Grand Master Xu was so sick that he even couldn¡¯t take charge of the imperial examination. A few days ago Dr. Chen sent by Fu Zhiyu entered the Xu residence and came back to report that there was nothing wrong, but Grand Master Xu was almost 80 years old this year. When one got older, his health would naturally deteriorate. It would be fine after more recuperation. Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t know if this was a blessing in disguise. In his previous life, because of the imperial examination fraud case, although he found out the truth and proved his innocence, it took a long time. For Grand Master Xu his face was very important. After being pointed at his back for so long, he was so angry that his body collapsed and he passed away soon after. Advertisements Although he had also fallen ill now, he was in a much better condition than in the previous life. At least there was still a chance for recuperation, and Fu Zhiyu also felt some comfort in his heart. This old man liked to smoke tobacco leaves and coughed a lot. Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t add his blood to pine nut candies this time. He made a jar of autumn pear jam and wondered if Grand Master Xu ate it every day according to Dr. Chen¡¯s instructions. Now the Xu residence still didn¡¯t accept outsiders except for a few doctors, but when Fu Zhiyu was about to close the carriage curtain, he saw a man coming out of the small side door next to the main entrance of the Xu residence. It was Shen Yang, the new top scorer in the imperial examination, and Fu Zhiyu heard that he had been appointed the compiler of the Hanlin Academy and given the sixth rank. Although it was not a good position, for a scholar from a poor family, with no backer behind him, this starting point was not bad. Grand Master Xu really liked Shen Yang and treated him very well. Sometimes he even gave money to this student. Now that Shen Yang had won the first prize, it was reasonable that he had come to thank his teacher. Shen Yang didn¡¯t notice Fu Zhiyu¡¯s carriage. There was an obvious smile on his face, as if his plan had succeeded. When Fu Zhiyu saw this smile, he was a little uncomfortable. He always felt that Shen Yang was also a bit weird, but after thinking about it carefully, he felt that he was overly concerned. Although it was somewhat different from the previous life¡¯s performance, it was also roughly in line with Shen Yang¡¯s character. If he were reborn, there would be no need for him to try to talk to Fu Zhiyu. He would have avoided the intermediate link and found Xie Ke directly a long time ago. ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± Yuan Mingdao finished slurping the noodles and saw Fu Zhiyu¡¯s solemn face. ¡°What is the Master looking at?¡± ¡°Nothing,¡± Fu Zhiyu closed the curtain casually and turned his head to Yuan Mingdao, ¡°The snack shop is close, let¡¯s get ready to go down.¡± Half an hour later, Fu Zhiyu, carrying a box of pastries, entered the gate of the Yuan residence with Yuan Mingdao and heard a burst of laughter. ¡°Is what Sister Xi said true? Is it really that fun over there? Then I¡¯ll make Dad take me there next time!¡± This was Yuan Lu¡¯s voice. He was the son of Fu Zhiyu¡¯s younger uncle. He was eleven years old this year, with a tiger head and a tiger brain (dignified and strong). The baby fat on his face had not gone away yet; he was soft and very cute. He had a good relationship with Yuan Mingdao in his previous life. When he died, Mingdao was very sad. Since then, his whole personality had changed a lot. ¡°Of course!¡± The one who answered him was a girl, sounding bright and lively, ¡°I also brought you a horse whip as a gift from there. Tomorrow I will take you to ride a pony outside the city. It¡¯ll be fun!¡± This voice belonged to Yuan Xi, the elder uncle¡¯s daughter. She was two years older than Fu Zhiyu, eighteen years old. She had studied martial arts since she was a child, a heroic and valiant young woman. Fu Zhiyu walked further and saw a group of people in the small courtyard. The two younger ones were sitting under the tree. The adults were chatting in the pavilion a little further away, looking over there from time to time. When Fu Zhiyu walked through the door, Yuan Lu was the first to see him. It was a bit unlike the scene Fu Zhiyu had imagined. Yuan Lu and he hadn¡¯t seen each other for three years. After Yuan Lu came back, he heard that Fu Zhiyu had been named Wang Zhao. Everything was different from before. Now when he saw Fu Zhiyu, he was a little scared and took a few steps back. ¡°Wang¡­ Wang Zhao,¡± Yuan Lu¡¯s little face showed a bit of fear. He swallowed, stuttered and almost knelt down for him, ¡°Greetings to His Imperial Highness.¡± Fu Zhiyu: ¡°¡­¡­¡± It was the first time he had seen this little fat man so nervous. He didn¡¯t dare to pick up the pastries even when they were handed to him, looking like a timid fat rabbit. Fu Zhiyu had no choice but to walk forward and pick the little fat guy up in his arms. ¡°What are you calling me, His Imperial Highness? I¡¯m your brother, there are no outsiders here,¡± Fu Zhiyu patted the little fat boy¡¯s bottom and said, ¡°Don¡¯t you remember me?¡± Yuan Lu relaxed a little bit and said, ¡°No¡­¡± But he looked over Fu Zhiyu¡¯s shoulder and saw Yuan Mingdao behind him, and then his eyes lit up. ¡°Ah, beautiful little sister!¡± Yuan Mingdao¡¯s warm smile froze at once. He was well-nurtured in the palace. His skin was originally white and his long hair was not cut. Fu Zhiyu tied it in a braid that hung gracefully over his shoulder. He was now ten years old, and the contours of his face were still very soft. It was indeed a bit hard to say whether he was male or female. Fu Zhiyu almost laughed out loud. At this time, Yuan Lu could no longer care about him. He twisted out of his arms and then cautiously approached Yuan Mingdao, saying hesitantly: ¡°Little sister, what¡¯s your name?¡± Yuan Mingdao glanced at him and replied stiffly: ¡°I am a man.¡± CH 32 There was no such thing in his previous life. Yuan Lu saw Yuan Mingdao for the first time practising martial arts in the outer courtyard, punching and shadow-fighting. His hair was cut short and he wore a thin shirt. His figure was obviously male and very athletic. No matter what, he could not be taken for a girl. In this life, Yuan Lu¡¯s young heart was severely hurt by this ¡°beautiful little sister¡±. His poor first love ended as soon as it started, and he cried, aggrieved. From time to time, he turned his head to look at Yuan Mingdao. When he got permission, he stretched out his hand and touched Yuan Mingdao¡¯s hard pectoral muscles, and then cried even more severely. At this time, the adults also walked over from the pavilion, and after everyone saluted Fu Zhiyu according to the rules, they relaxed. ¡°There are no outsiders here, don¡¯t be afraid. Zhiyu is not a person who adheres to etiquette.¡± Yuan Jiangxing walked forward. He was a general, stationed at the border for a long time, tall and dark-skinned. He stretched out his hand and patted his daughter on the shoulder, comforting, ¡°Don¡¯t be nervous.¡± As an elder sister, Yuan Xi was not as young as Yuan Lu and remembered the past. She smiled amicably at Fu Zhiyu and said, ¡°It¡¯s been a long time since we met.¡± Fu Zhiyu also smiled at her, took out a cloth bag from his sleeve, handed it to Yuan Xi, and said, ¡°I brought a gift for Sister Xi. It¡¯s a dagger from the palace. It was left from the previous dynasty. It¡¯s a rare antique. Although it¡¯s impolite to give a girl such a weapon, our family doesn¡¯t care about conventionalities. This dagger cuts iron like mud, is dexterous and lightweight, and is very suitable for you.¡± Yuan Xi took a look and fell in love with the blade on the spot. She liked it so much that she couldn¡¯t put it down. She thanked Fu Zhiyu and went aside to try the dagger. Fu Zhiyu also prepared gifts for others, but Yuan Jiangwen walked up at this time and picked up his son who was wailing like a dog. Yuan Jiangwen was thin, had moustaches, and had a hearty personality. He laughed boldly, greeted Fu Zhiyu and said, ¡°Don¡¯t give Yuan Lu a gift for the time being. With him like this, he won¡¯t listen to a word. Come in and sit down for a while.¡± Fu Zhiyu led Yuan Mingdao, who didn¡¯t know what expression he should put on, inside, and greeted his two aunts. Soon after, he saw Old Master Yuan and Old Mrs. Yuan coming over. ¡°Practised outside with Madam for a while, got all sweaty and comfortable! It¡¯s such a nice day!¡± Old Master Yuan laughed out loud as soon as he entered, his face ruddy and full of energy. Fu Zhiyu looked at his face; it was indeed much better than the last time he saw him. It seemed that the pine nut candies he had sent were somewhat effective. The elder aunt covered her mouth and smiled: ¡°This time I come back, Father and Mother look much better. I¡¯m happy to see it.¡± ¡°I think it¡¯s just that if you eat enough and eat more meat, your body will naturally get better.¡± Old Mrs. Yuan moved her shoulders, sat down, touched the fruit on the table and then educated the room full of children with her own logic, ¡°I will cook by myself later and make a table of dishes. You all eat more! Only by eating more will you be in good health like me.¡± At this moment, everyone in the room burst into laughter. Everyone knew the usual practice of Old Mrs. Yuan and began to recall the previous events. The atmosphere was very relaxed, and even the crying Yuan Lu was distracted, following others in eating and laughing. The two large boxes of pastries that Fu Zhiyu took a detour to buy also came in handy at this time and were shared by everyone while chatting. The two uncles, Yuan Jiangxing and Yuan Jiangwen, were both talkative. One talked about his experience on the frontier. The small town he guarded was comparatively quiet. It was on the west side of the border, on the border with Jing. In all fairness, Fu Qingyan was really good at ruling Jilin, and Jing was originally a small country with a weak army. Over the years it had a vague tendency to be more and more submissive and didn¡¯t dare to make trouble at the border. Advertisements The place was very peaceful and was where the two countries traded with each other. The people were simple, the emperor was far away, and Yuan Jiangxing lived there like a local monarch. Life was not bad, but he was far away from home and couldn¡¯t return to the capital to see his parents without the emperor¡¯s call. As for Yuan Jiangwen, who was a merchant travelling all around the world, he was even more interesting. He was also eloquent. When he talked about people in Southern Xinjiang casually eating the lychees that were more expensive than gold in the capital, everyone couldn¡¯t help laughing. Yuan Mingdao also listened attentively, feeling as if he was in an immersive environment. Although Fu Zhiyu came today to discuss some matters, he preferred to spend time doing these seemingly meaningless things with his family. For him, these were the really important things in life. After lunch, he said to his two uncles that he had something to talk about with them. When the two uncles stayed alone with him, they were not as lively as they had been in the morning. Yuan Jiangwen took his seat, sighed and said, ¡°When I was in Southern Xinjiang, I always thought of Wanyun. When she was young, she read a book and thought that Southern Xinjiang was full of flowers and warm during all four seasons, not as cold as the capital. She dreamed of going there with her family. In fact, Southern Xinjiang is not as good as she thought but¡­¡± He didn¡¯t go on and took out a hairpin from his sleeve, with fine flowers made of pink crystals on it, very beautiful. ¡°I bought this in Southern Xinjiang. Although it is worthless compared to the things in the palace, it was custom made for her by a handicraft auntie in Southern Xinjiang. She looked at the small portrait of Wanyun that I brought and said that such a beautiful woman needed to wear a beautiful hairpin,¡± Yuan Jiangwen handed it to Fu Zhiyu and said, ¡°When you return to the palace, bring this to her. I have been thinking that it would be nice if Wanyun were not so beautiful. Maybe she would have had a smoother life.¡± Yuan Jiangxing didn¡¯t say anything and just listened; his face didn¡¯t look very good. Fu Zhiyu knew about his elder uncle beating the emperor and was afraid that he would be upset again and run to beat the emperor once more. He took the hairpin and said, ¡°I also want Mother to come out and meet everyone.¡± ¡°Is it possible?!¡± Yuan Jiangxing became excited when he heard it, stood up with a hoot, and hesitated again, ¡°But she is the Imperial Consort¡­¡± Fu Zhiyu knew that according to the palace rules, the position of Consort Yun only allowed her to leave the palace for one day when mourning her parents. Advertisements It was not difficult for her parents to get the opportunity to visit the palace occasionally, but it was almost impossible for the rest of the family. Yuan Jiangxing was about to leave soon after his debriefing. Yuan Jiangwen couldn¡¯t stay for too long because of his business. Although the future ahead of them was long, the past few years were difficult. Fu Zhiyu really couldn¡¯t ignore his mother¡¯s wishes. ¡°I want to take Mother Consort out of the palace, just for a few hours.¡± ¡°The emperor will not agree¡­¡± Yuan Jiangxing reacted as soon as he heard these words, and his voice suddenly lowered, ¡°Are you planning to take Sister out of the palace without permission?¡± Fu Zhiyu comforted: ¡°Don¡¯t worry, it will be fine. If something happens, I will take the responsibility.¡± ¡°We are not worried about this,¡± the two glanced at each other and calmed down together. ¡°Do we need to do anything?¡± ¡°You don¡¯t,¡± Fu Zhiyu said. ¡°It¡¯s just that even if Mother comes out, she can¡¯t stay for too long. I will send a letter to the family in advance. Be prepared and don¡¯t accept visitors at that time.¡± ¡°That¡¯s natural,¡± Yuan Jiangxing responded, and then looked at Fu Zhiyu in surprise as if he had just realised something, ¡°Wait, Zhiyu, are you¡­ is your brain okay?¡± After both of them came back, they quickly learned about what happened at Liuli Palace, and they didn¡¯t dare to mention it in the morning, for fear of poking Fu Zhiyu¡¯s wound. Fu Zhiyu also behaved very quietly, looking really different from before. Fu Zhiyu smiled and said, ¡°I had no problem in the first place, it was just pretending.¡± Speaking of this, he also became serious and said, ¡°I told my uncles about this matter, and it is not only my but also Mother Consort¡¯s intention.¡± It took him some time to explain the recent events clearly to the two of them. Naturally, he didn¡¯t say anything about his rebirth. He only said that the palace was really a cannibalistic place. After walking through the Gate of the Ghosts, he found that it was extremely unsuitable for him and his mother consort. He wanted to get out of this predicament, and the sooner the better. ¡°You are planning to leave,¡± Yuan Jiangwen said with emotion. ¡°Compared with this idea, coming home for a few hours is nothing.¡± After Yuan Jiangxing finished listening, he looked very happy. He stretched out his hand and patted Fu Zhiyu on the shoulder vigorously, saying with a big smile: ¡°It should have been done a long time ago! This is the best news I have heard for a long time.¡± It was really not that easy to escape with his mother and Mingdao. It was not difficult to get out of the palace, but the difficulty was how to avoid the aftermath after leaving the palace and protect the Yuan family; otherwise Fu Zhiyu wouldn¡¯t wait until now. There was no easy way to do it. It was impossible to pretend to be abducted. The emperor would hunt them down to the end. What Fu Zhiyu wanted was to disappear, not to escape. It was even more impossible to use Dr. Chen to fake death. The death of the Imperial Noble Consort was a major event, and the entire Imperial Hospital would be involved. Death was much harder to fake than illness. Even if you got away with the examination by the Imperial Hospital, the body of the Imperial Consort would be strictly guarded. After the coffin was sealed, it would be carried directly to the imperial mausoleum for burial. There would never be a chance for someone to snatch it. Even though Fu Zhiyu was stronger now, the matter of breaking into the imperial mausoleum was too big a deal. It was impossible. He was currently alone and didn¡¯t have much power. It was a sure fact that he couldn¡¯t become the emperor. His mother consort was not the kind of nameless person in the palace who could disappear and no one would care about it. The escape was going to be very difficult. After thinking about it, he only felt he had to wait for a chance to act. According to Fu Zhiyu¡¯s idea, he wanted to escape while the imperial palace was in chaos, when no one should have time to pay attention to Liuli Palace and it would be much easier to create a corresponding illusion. Due to the training method of Emperor Qingyuan, in his previous life his transition to the throne was destined to be quite uneventful. About seven or eight years from now, the Crown Prince was so desperate to force his way onto the throne that the whole palace was in chaos, but it took no time at all before he was dislodged by Fu Zhiyu with his troops. Fu Lingxiao was killed by Yuan Mingdao himself, and the half-moon scimitar penetrated his chest, avenging the Yuan family¡¯s bloodshed. But this time there was no need to wait for seven or eight years, nor could Fu Zhiyu wait that long. In his previous life, Fu Zhiyu was suppressed and beaten down by the Crown Prince for a long time. Fu Lingxiao basically felt no threat and was naturally willing to wait; it was not until later that he felt some sense of crisis. But this time Fu Rongye was a threat, and he was far more mature than Fu Zhiyu, who used to be quite ignorant back then. With the tit-for-tat situation between the Crown Prince and the Third Prince, it was naturally predictable that all these things would explode in advance. No matter how well Emperor Qingyuan took care of himself, he was so busy every day that his body would collapse in the next few years; besides, the Crown Prince couldn¡¯t resist helping send him on his way in the end. Emperor Qingyuan had so many children and consorts, but few of them were sincere to him, looking forward to his early death. Fu Zhiyu¡¯s decision not to do anything to the emperor was already his last kindness. After all, he was now considered to be protected by Fu Qingyan. But thinking of the sins suffered by his mother before, he would never be able to make himself help this man. He would wait, watch the dynamic, prepare and look for opportunities, then act when he had a chance. But before all that happened, Fu Zhiyu also wanted to find a way to let his mother get a breath of fresh air. Although it was indeed risky, if you didn¡¯t take a risk for those you cared about, what was the point of being reborn? CH 33 He told this to his two uncles, firstly because he wanted to ask them for help. Yuan Jiangxing had some private soldiers under his command; though not many, but they could be of use in critical times, and they had been on the frontier and had never shown their faces in the capital. Yuan Jiangwen had been doing business all around the world for a long time, so when they escaped from the capital, they could dress up as a merchant family and follow the caravan. It would be a disguise to prevent someone from recognising them. Secondly, it was to let his uncles prepare and make arrangements in advance so that the Yuan family could be safe and would not be implicated. ¡°I will definitely help!¡± Yuan Jiangxing slapped the table and said excitedly, ¡°I don¡¯t want to guard the frontier for this emperor, and he can¡¯t control me all these years anyway!¡± Yuan Jiangwen touched his moustache, and there was no worry on his face: ¡°My business is in the south, the sky is high and the emperor is far away. The capital¡¯s hands can¡¯t reach that long. At that time, I will take you and Wanyun to Jiangnan and buy a big house by the river. You can watch the flowers every day, it is much more enjoyable than here.¡± Fu Zhiyu was relieved when he heard such a promise, bowed his head and then explained some things to the two of them. What he was talking about now was basically the details. Fu Zhiyu had no idea about the next step yet. It mainly depended on how Fu Rongye handled the imperial examination fraud case, and whether Shen Yang, an unstable factor, would do something to make the whole thing deviate from his expectations. ¡°Okay, if there¡¯s anything else we can do in the future, just let us know.¡± Yuan Jiangwen thought for a while and then added, ¡°I will leave a few carrier pigeons at home, they will find their own way, and their speed is also very fast. After the letter is delivered to my house in Jiangnan, someone will notify me quickly, and then I will find a way to notify Big Brother.¡± The conversation went smoothly. Afterwards, the three of them looked as if nothing had happened. But in the afternoon, Yuan Jiangwen and Yuan Jiangxing were obviously in a much better mood. Even Old Mrs. Yuan wondered what a good thing happened to them. Even the huge amount of meat on the table was eaten cleanly by the two of them while drinking. After dinner, Fu Zhiyu was about to leave. Before he left, he didn¡¯t forget to hand the two uncles a box of medicine. The two opened it and saw that there were some small black pills in the jade box, smelling of medicinal herbs faintly. ¡°What is this?¡± Yuan Jiangwen asked, ¡°I am in good health, I don¡¯t need to take medicine.¡± In fact, it was made from a mixture of Fu Zhiyu¡¯s blood, with the addition of some mild qi-supplementing herbs with no side effects to cover it up. Both uncles travelled far, and food like pine nut candies could easily get spoiled, so Fu Zhiyu thought about it and made these pills, easy to carry and easy to store. ¡°It was prepared by Dr. Chen. It¡¯s good for your health. Just one pill a month,¡± Fu Zhiyu explained. The concentration of this pill was higher than pine nut candies; there was no need to take it every day. ¡°Moreover, the aunts, Yuan Xi and Yuan Lu can also take it.¡± When they heard that it was the handiwork of Dr. Chen in the palace, both uncles were relieved and immediately agreed to take the pills on time. Advertisements The carriage gradually moved in the direction of the palace, but the smile on Yuan Mingdao¡¯s face had not dissipated. He dug into his sleeve, fished out two small cloth bags and handed them to Fu Zhiyu like a treasure. ¡°What is this again?¡± Fu Zhiyu opened them and saw that one cloth bag contained beef jerky and the other contained some black candy. ¡°That little fool Yuan Lu stuffed them to me,¡± Yuan Mingdao said with a smile. ¡°It was brought to him by his father from a business trip. The quantity was not large and he ate little by little every day. When he gave it to me, he almost cried again. He also repeatedly told me that I have to think of him when I eat these things, not forget him after he leaves the capital and be nice to him in the future.¡± Fu Zhiyu took a small piece of beef jerky and put it in his mouth. It had a different taste from the things in the capital. A layer of chilli was sprinkled on it. The taste of air-dried meat was blended with a special spicy flavour. It was indeed delicious. Chilli was still rare in the capital. Fu Zhiyu had heard that it was eaten more in Sichuan. As for the black candy, it tasted a little bitter but felt sweet after a while, and there was also a special rich fragrance. ¡°This is cocoa candy,¡± Yuan Mingdao explained seriously. ¡°It is said to come from the West.¡± Fu Zhiyu took a bite and asked Yuan Mingdao to put it away. Since Yuan Lu gave Mingdao these special treats, he couldn¡¯t be greedy and eat too much. It was important to respect the friendship between children. Yuan Mingdao called Yuan Lu the little fool, but he cherished the things the little fool gave him and put them in the most intimate place. ¡°By the way,¡± Yuan Mingdao remembered suddenly, ¡°Master, do you want to take Consort Yun out of the palace? What do you plan to do?¡± Fu Zhiyu said: ¡°It¡¯s actually simple, as long as you have the courage, come back in time, and aren¡¯t discovered in the process. I plan to choose the evening after tomorrow. The emperor will host a banquet in the palace. This is the time when the generals stationed in various places return to the capital for debriefing. Hosting a banquet is a tradition. The elder uncle has nothing to do with these people. He didn¡¯t want to join in the fun anyway, so he had already told the emperor that after he returned to the capital, he had a hard time acclimatising and took a leave of absence. The emperor granted it. The banquet will take a long time, and the generals will drink at least until midnight. Most of the guards in the palace will be there. At that time, no one will pay attention to Liuli Palace.¡± ¡°But what about the inspection by the palace guards?¡± Fu Zhiyu said, ¡°I have a way.¡± Advertisements The inspection of the palace guards was actually a trivial matter. The most important thing was for no one to find any abnormality in Liuli Palace. Aside from the emperor, there were spies placed in the palace and they were the problem. He told Consort Yun about it the next day. Although she was happy, she was still worried: ¡°Will it really not be a problem?¡± Fu Zhiyu comforted: ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I have been out of the palace a lot during this period of time. Palace guards don¡¯t check Wang Zhao¡¯s carriage much. They naturally treat different people differently.¡± ¡°But lifting the curtain is inevitable, right?¡± Fu Zhiyu put down the cup of tea in his hand calmly and smiled faintly, ¡°The largest carriage in the palace has a hidden compartment.¡± ¡°I know,¡± Consort Yun was still puzzled. ¡°That¡¯s not a big secret, quite a few people know about it. But the secret compartment is very small. It¡¯s impossible for the palace carriage to have a big hidden compartment. If I were six years old, maybe I would be able to stuff it in.¡± ¡°Well, so we need to find something to cover it.¡± When Emperor Qingyuan came to Liuli Palace at noon, Fu Zhiyu mentioned this matter to him. ¡°¡­ When I went to the Yuan residence yesterday, I was stunned. They are eating and sleeping in the open in the frontier. Yuan Xi is a young woman with calluses on her hands, not to mention General Yuan,¡± Fu Zhiyu sighed, his face full of sorrow, as if he had seen something in the Yuan residence that shocked the world and made ghosts and spirits weep. ¡°Yuan Lu¡¯s family is even worse, the merchants are already lowly, for a little money, they run around all the time. The man is so skinny; at least he is the elder brother of Mother Consort, how can he live in such misery?¡± Consort Yun also took out her handkerchief in time and wiped the corners of her eyes. Of course, that was all Fu Zhiyu¡¯s nonsense. The two uncles, one thin and the other sturdy, were born this way. The calluses on Yuan Xi¡¯s hands were from her martial arts practice and had nothing to do with the life of misery. But the emperor was very happy after listening to it, especially the section about Yuan Jiangxing. He originally came to Liuli Palace to say hello at noon today and leave, not planning to stay for too long, but now he was interested. ¡°It¡¯s true that the land there is too hard to live in,¡± Emperor Qingyuan listened with pleasure and his mood improved. ¡°What does Xiao Jiu want?¡± Fu Zhiyu took a step forward and said, ¡°General Yuan will set off for the frontier in the afternoon of the day after tomorrow. I want to give him some rewards. This girl Yuan Xi doesn¡¯t even have any beads on her head. How can she marry in the future? It¡¯s really detrimental to the imperial face!¡± ¡°Reward them, reward them,¡± Emperor Qingyuan, happy to hear it, waved his hand. The last thing he lacked was these material things. The warehouses in the palace were piled up and there was no place to store everything. ¡°Go to the warehouse and take a look. Whatever furnishings and accessories, jewellery and silk you want, go pick some.¡± ¡°Many thanks to Father Emperor.¡± Fu Zhiyu took the imperial order to pick things and picked the large ones. There were several celadon vases that seemed to be just waiting for him. The emperor was very satisfied when he saw the list. He felt that Fu Zhiyu was foolish enough to pick just right, just the way he wanted it. He picked these things that looked gorgeous and dignified, but were actually of no great use, and there was no special benefit to them except for taking up space. Many things were also fragile. Fu Zhiyu took time to choose the things and in the evening of the next day they were loaded into the carriage one by one. Fu Zhiyu kept talking about being very anxious; General Yuan would leave tomorrow, so he only had this night to deliver them. He used the largest carriage in the palace with great fanfare, and even piled some of the most valuable things into his own carriage, followed by several carts, making the whole procession so cumbersome that people in the palace had to avoid it when seeing it. The palace guards naturally knew about it, and knew that Wang Zhao had the emperor¡¯s order to deliver some things to the Yuan residence. During the routine inspection, as soon as they lifted the curtain, they saw the folded pieces of clothes. The pieces were shining brightly, and the guards didn¡¯t dare to touch them. There were also shelves above the clothes, with some accessories, as well as some fragile purple clay pots, cup holders and the like. They were all excellent items from the palace. The palace guards didn¡¯t dare to make a sound, took a look and let the carriage pass. In addition to these things in the carriage, there was obviously only Wang Zhao alone. Besides, Wang Zhao had been out of the palace many times recently, and the guards had become accustomed to it. The identity of the Wang originally meant that Fu Zhiyu was free to enter and exit the palace, not to mention this time there was the emperor¡¯s order. The inspection was naturally much more relaxed than at other times, and the guards were also afraid of offending the most favoured person in the palace. After the guards let the carriage pass, they heard Wang Zhao giving orders from inside the carriage: ¡°Be careful with the boxes at the back, don¡¯t bump them. If one is broken, you¡¯ll be responsible!¡± Inside the carriage, half of Consort Yun¡¯s body shrank in the dark compartment and the other half exposed outside was covered by the boxes and the piles of clothes. At a glance, it was indeed impossible to notice that there was another person inside. After leaving the palace, Fu Zhiyu hurriedly pulled his mother out. In order not to be discovered, Consort Yun wore a thin coarse cloth dress without any beads and embroidery. She looked like an ordinary maidservant. She was curled up, looking really uncomfortable. ¡°It¡¯s all right,¡± Consort Yun¡¯s forehead was sweaty, she was nervous and stuffy, but her face was excited, ¡°I, I¡¯m finally out, finally¡­¡± She wanted to look at the street outside, but held back her hand and didn¡¯t dare to lift the curtain. While wiping her sweat, Fu Zhiyu admonished: ¡°It¡¯s just that you can¡¯t stay for too long. The time you can spend out of the palace is at most one hour. Even if the emperor¡¯s banquet goes on till the middle of the night, there are many people watching Liuli Palace. What¡¯s more, there is the Crown Prince¡¯s spy in the palace. Even if Caiyan does her best to prevent it, it¡¯s hard to guarantee that there will be no omissions. If something really goes wrong, it will be too late to remedy it.¡± Consort Yun nodded quickly, indicating that she knew. When the caravan of rewards arrived at the Yuan residence, everyone in the family came out to welcome it, a necessary courtesy. The scene was chaotic as boxes of things were handed over in a flow, and now that it was completely dark, no one noticed a maid walk in through the Yuan residence¡¯s side door. Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t participate in the meeting between his mother and the two uncles. He knew that it was not appropriate for him to disturb them at this time, so he just waited outside, looking up and counting the stars above his head. His mother had been protected by her two brothers since she was a child. When she married Fu Qingyan, the two of them were very dissatisfied. They didn¡¯t expect their premonition to be a prophecy that would really come true. The elder uncle could do such a thing as beating the emperor, and the younger uncle was not much better. During the period when Yuan Wanyun first entered the palace and had a bad time, he used to bribe the servants in the palace so that her situation could be at least a little better. Even Dr. Chen had become Consort Yun¡¯s man because of Yuan Jiangwen¡¯s connections. This was why Fu Zhiyu dared to tell them all these things. When his mother came out, there were tears on her face, but her expression was obviously happy. ¡°I¡¯m leaving,¡± she said, taking the hands of her two brothers and making a solemn promise, ¡°But the future is long, and we will still have the opportunity to be together afterwards. Then we won¡¯t have to risk losing our heads to see each other.¡± CH 34 Even Old Master Yuan and his wife didn¡¯t know about this matter, in order not to frighten them. Fu Zhiyu just told them that he still had something to tell the two uncles, and his mother consort asked him to bring gifts and letters, so it took him a longer time. They didn¡¯t know he brought the entire living person of Consort Yun here. By the time they finished speaking, it was already a little late. Fu Zhiyu stuffed his reluctant mother into the carriage. According to the arrangement, the Yuan family gave a lot of fur as a return gift, all piled in the carriage. When the palace guard lifted the curtain, he saw Wang Zhao playing with a snow-white fox fur, and there was a pile of fur of different colours towering up next to him. This was not as neat as when he went out and looked quite messy. However, it was not up to the guard to express his opinion. He glanced as perfunctorily as before and let the carriage in. Consort Yun finally returned to the palace safely. In Liuli Palace, her confidant maid Caiyan covered up for her, saying that Consort Yun was not feeling well and went to bed early. Caiyan finally relaxed when she saw her master coming back. ¡°Nothing happened, right?¡± Fu Zhiyu asked habitually. Seeing that Liuli Palace was calm now, he knew that everything was fine. ¡°There was almost an accident,¡± Caiyan patted her chest, frightened. ¡°For some reason, the banquet didn¡¯t go well. It was said that some generals drank too much and talked nonsense, which made the emperor unhappy. He dropped his wine glass on the spot and was about to leave the table. The emperor was angry and bored, so he wanted to come to Liuli Palace to get some air. The eunuch came and brought the message, saying that the palace should be prepared. The master was angry, and very angry, so pay more attention. When this slave heard this, this slave was so worried! I only thought about how to delay some time. Who knew that the emperor would not come. I sent the eunuch to inquire and it turned out that the emperor was persuaded to go back halfway through. The banquet is still lively now, and he probably won¡¯t come tonight.¡± Although Fu Zhiyu was prepared to deal with the accidents, he hadn¡¯t expected this to happen. Fortunately, nothing went wrong. Consort Yun also breathed a sigh of relief, thought for a while, and then asked curiously: ¡°The emperor is so stubborn, who can persuade him to go back?¡± Caiyan said: ¡°It¡¯s Xie Ke, the imperial guard, the young master from General Xie¡¯s family. I heard that the emperor valued him very much recently and listened to his words a little bit. Now Xie Ke is a big celebrity in the palace.¡± Consort Yun knew this name a long time ago. She couldn¡¯t help but look at her son; but of course she saw Fu Zhiyu frowning again. What was Xie Ke trying to do? Fu Zhiyu did everything thoroughly and was prepared for such an occasion. If someone came suddenly, Caiyan would be able to block them, saying that Constor Yun had fallen asleep and wouldn¡¯t accept visitors. If the emperor came, Mingdao would also be on guard. The banquet place was far from Liuli Palace, and the sky was dark. Fu Zhiyu asked Mingdao to set up arrows on the sides of the path in advance. It didn¡¯t matter if there was an injury or not, Emperor Qingyuan was very cautious. This time the banquet happened to invite the generals stationed all over the country. If the emperor suspected that someone tried to ambush him, he wouldn¡¯t have much mind to come to Liuli Palace. There were many ways to disrupt the emperor¡¯s plan, and it was not difficult to delay him for a while. Advertisements Consort Yun looked at Fu Zhiyu¡¯s face, but there was a bit of doubt in her heart. It stood to reason that this Xie Ke was her son¡¯s saviour and now he had helped Liuli Palace again. Why did Xiaobao hate him so much? Xiaobao was a gentle person, and if he could hate someone like this, there must be something wrong with that person. As she pondered, she took another look at Fu Zhiyu, only to hear her son immediately change the subject. ¡°It¡¯s getting late, Mother should rest early,¡± Fu Zhiyu said softly, ¡°I¡¯m tired too, and I¡¯m very sleepy.¡± After taking care of his mother, he turned and went back to his bedroom. Yuan Mingdao was reading at his desk. When he saw Fu Zhiyu coming in, he hurriedly ran over, took his hand and asked him to sit down. ¡°Is the Master tired from going out?¡± He asked with concern, ¡°I prepared a bowl of almond milk, it¡¯s warm on the small stove, drink it, and you can sleep better at night.¡± Fu Zhiyu felt soft at the sight of him, stroked his hair and said ¡°Okay¡±. Yuan Mingdao was really like a soft little animal to him, so sweet that it was as if all the unhappy things had gone away at once when he was near. After bathing, Fu Zhiyu drank the sweet and fragrant almond milk while sitting comfortably on his bed. He put down his other hand casually but touched something hard and cold on the bed. It was a bloodstone box, the same as last time. Xie Ke couldn¡¯t get in now, but he would leave the box. Recently, a few more servants had been added to Liuli Palace. Fu Zhiyu wondered which one had managed to put it on his bed. While thinking, Fu Zhiyu put the bowl of almond milk aside, wiped off a layer of sweet liquid on his lips, and then picked up the box. He wanted to throw it away directly, but thinking of what happened today, he hesitated a bit. Was it a coincidence that Xie Ke persuaded the emperor to return to the banquet, or did he really know that Consort Yun was not in Liuli Palace? There was nothing wrong on the palace guards¡¯ side. Fu Zhiyu had experienced their inspection methods several times and knew that there was basically no problem there. He was mainly worried that the emperor or someone else would suddenly visit Liuli Palace, or that other servants in the palace would find out that the owner of the palace had disappeared inexplicably, and then they would be caught in the act. There were so many servants in Liuli Palace, and apart from Caiyan and Caimei, the maids who had accompanied his mother consort to the palace, the rest could not be trusted, not to mention that there were also spies placed by the Crown Prince and the Third Prince. Now there should be one more spy. Fu Zhiyu stared at the box for a long time, and finally reached out to open it. Advertisements There was nothing in it except a note. This time there were more words on the note, saying: Are you having fun with your mother in the Yuan residence? I also prepared gifts for the uncles, and they have already been delivered. Zhiyu, you can do whatever you want from now on, don¡¯t worry, I will protect you. Fu Zhiyu¡¯s face suddenly became cold. Xie Ke really knew about Consort Yun¡¯s absence but no one else found out. Why would he know? He quickly burned the note, and just like last time, he put the bloodstone box in the hidden compartment by the bed, then lay on the bed, turning over and over for a long time, unable to fall asleep. Xie Ke¡¯s hand stretched out too long and too fast. Playing again, he really performed better than in the previous life. Perhaps, the original plot got in the way in the past, otherwise there would be no need to spend ten years on the part of the plot that concerned Fu Zhiyu. He thought about the escape that he had discussed with his two uncles. In fact, the imperial family was not a real obstacle. Although it was tightly guarded, it was not without loopholes. It was not difficult to exploit a loophole. Just like today, as long as you planned thoroughly, there was hope of success. Only Xie Ke was the biggest instability factor, and he was destined to be the biggest enemy in Fu Zhiyu¡¯s life. The same night, Xie Ke was guarding the emperor¡¯s banquet, but he was in a completely different mood than Fu Zhiyu. In front of many generals, he didn¡¯t know how many glasses of wine he had drunk, and his face was a little red. ¡°A young and promising man!¡± The cavalry general stationed in the north was one of the highest-ranking generals in the banquet. He patted Xie Ke vigorously on the shoulder and said with a burp, ¡°Nineteen years old this year¡­ Are you married? Come on! I know General Xie, so let me introduce you! Say, which girl do you like? Say it boldly, I will snatch her for you!¡± ¡°No need,¡± Xie Ke was just a little drunk but his head was still clear, ¡°I have someone I like, and I just want to marry this person.¡± You don¡¯t need to snatch him, Xie Ke thought silently, what¡¯s the point of snatching? Those who are snatched will escape. He was going to slowly trap Zhiyu like a spider weaving a web, lock him tightly, and Zhiyu would always belong to him and would never escape again. The cavalry general was so drunk that he didn¡¯t hear Xie Ke¡¯s words clearly. He fell to the ground, laughing foolishly and muttering: ¡°I¡­ when I was your age, I was married a long time ago! It was the girl I had a crush on for a long time, hehe¡­¡± Xie Ke disliked his drunkenness and stayed away subtly. He had to admit that he was somewhat upset and jealous when he heard this. I also have a crush on my baby, and I had a crush on him in my previous life. I wonder if he saw the note? Xie Ke couldn¡¯t help but recall Zhiyu¡¯s face again. The last time he saw Zhiyu, he was so beautiful and cute. That must have been the cutest face in the world. It was cute when it was angry and cute when it was indifferent. He loved it so much no matter what. After Zhiyu ran away in anger, Xie Ke regretted it again. He shouldn¡¯t have been so reckless, but he really couldn¡¯t hold back at that time. It¡¯s been too long since I¡¯ve seen him¡­ In the previous life, when Zhiyu was this age, Xie Ke just wanted to avoid him and focus on his tasks. Later, he had some feelings but Zhiyu had already grown up. He really missed Zhiyu¡¯s teenage years, and missed the opportunity to see the naive and somewhat childish character of his lover. Zhiyu suffered, and it smoothed his edges and corners as he grew up. Every time Xie Ke thought of it, he regretted it and couldn¡¯t wait to go back and kill himself in the past. So God knows how happy Xie Ke was to be able to do it all over again. Zhiyu still had some baby fat on his face, was soft to kiss, his eyes were round and big, and apart from the fact that Zhiyu hated him because he remembered all those things from the past, he was back to being a real, pure teenager who dared to do anything. The only thing Xie Ke could do was to do his best to protect such a Zhiyu. I would really love to marry Zhiyu one day, Xie Ke thought with some anticipation. The banquet was originally very boring, but Xie Ke felt happy because of this momentary association. When he returned to the courtyard at night, he had a smile on his face. But when he entered the courtyard, his smile disappeared all at once. ¡°Why are you here?¡± Shen Yang, standing in the courtyard, turned his head, glanced at Xie Ke and said, ¡°Why is it that every time I come to see you, you¡¯re full of alcohol? Zhiyu doesn¡¯t like drunks.¡± ¡°Do you have the right to call him Zhiyu? You have to call him Wang Zhao.¡± Xie Ke sneered, too lazy to look at him, and went into the house alone. Nong Yu made a pot of tea and Xie Ke poured himself a few cups before continuing, ¡°If you have something to say, say it. If not, get lost.¡± Xie Ke was sure in his heart that if he included himself, there would be four people who had memories of the previous life. But he was the only one who could fully confirm this. Zhiyu had seen Shen Yang very few times, and so had Yuan Mingdao. The two of them should not be completely sure that Shen Yang had been reborn. Maybe they didn¡¯t think about it at all. After all, Shen Yang¡¯s performance so far was normal. Apart from stopping Zhiyu at the Fengyue House and during the Qionglin Banquet, he didn¡¯t even say a few words. As for Shen Yang, he didn¡¯t realise that Zhiyu was also reborn, and he didn¡¯t even know that Zhiyu¡¯s stupidity was feigned. Xie Ke didn¡¯t want to clarify this point. He looked at Shen Yang, who was sitting opposite him, and raised his eyebrows with a sense of superiority. ¡°The matter of fraud in the imperial examination should be settled tomorrow according to the Crown Prince¡¯s arrangement, right? Instead of stopping it, you have the leisure to come and sit with me?¡± In addition to what Xie Ke thought in his heart, he didn¡¯t forget to be sarcastic, ¡°Don¡¯t forget, you are now the sixth-rank compiler of the Hanlin Academy, not the prime minister. When the time comes, you will go to jail. Don¡¯t ask me to save you.¡± Shen Yang smiled slightly, not panicking at all, and said, ¡°I also ask you to worry less. The compiling at the Hanlin Academy is too boring. This is the opportunity prepared for me. How can I play the trick of rising without attracting the emperor¡¯s attention first?¡± The author has something to say: Consort Yun looks at Xie Ke¡ú Xiaobao has a very good temper, but he hates this man very much. This man must have something wrong with him. Zhiyu looks at Xie Ke¡úThe biggest obstacle in my life Yuan Mingdao looked at Xie Ke¡úI have to find a chance to eliminate him one day Shen Yang looks at Xie Ke¡úOld son of a bitch CH 35 After all, the two of them had been a model monarch and subject for a lifetime, although they did fall apart a bit in the end. In this life, though, they shed all the pretence of cordiality, tearing into each other like enemies. ¡°Okay, I really didn¡¯t come here to fight with you,¡± Shen Yang rubbed his brow, sighed and then said, ¡°I thought about it for a while, it¡¯s better for us to cooperate. Xie Ke, I promise I can provide you with the greatest help, definitely better than in my previous life. After the imperial examination, I carefully planned. Even if I grab this opportunity now, it will still be difficult to protect Zhiyu in the short term. Without a background, I can¡¯t even get close to him and say a few words. Now his brain is damaged, what if he is really bullied in the palace?¡± When Shen Yang talked about Fu Zhiyu, he couldn¡¯t hide the worry on his face, as if he was a hard-working old father, much more caring than Emperor Qingyuan. Xie Ke sneered and said, ¡°Sure enough, calculate and plan, but I¡¯m still the fastest way to go, right?¡± ¡°No need to say such unpleasant things,¡± Shen Yang said. ¡°To put it bluntly, each takes what they need and uses each other.¡± Xie Ke looked at him but thought of something else. He clearly knew that Zhiyu didn¡¯t believe that he had fallen in love with him a long time ago. He only felt that Xie Ke was making up for his regrets and would give up before long. Xie Ke couldn¡¯t argue with this, so he had to use practical actions to show whether he was doing all these things out of deep love or out of guilt. To be fair, Shen Yang truly felt guilty. His guilt was so deep that his overwhelming obsession made his data refuse to disappear, and he came back with the entire rebooted world. In his heart, Xie Ke knew that Yuan Mingdao was probably just being loyal. He was too different in age from Zhiyu, who had raised him as a younger brother. Love was not the only thing that made people risk their lives, many other feelings were possible. But when Xie Ke saw that Zhiyu was so gentle to Yuan Mingdao while being so cold and indifferent to him, refusing to say a word, he felt uncomfortable all over, blind with jealousy. Obviously¡­ in the previous life, Zhiyu was only so good to him. Zhiyu¡¯s eyes were soft when he looked at him. How could it be like this now? But if he really got rid of that kid, it would really be impossible for him and Zhiyu. Thinking of this, Xie Ke sighed. He didn¡¯t have the intention of talking to Shen Yang anymore. He waved his hand and said, ¡°Okay, it¡¯s not certain if you can survive this fraud case. If you get out of it safely, come to me again. I¡¯m not interested in chatting with a dying man now.¡± Shen Yang also knew that it was Xie Ke¡¯s style of talking. He rolled his eyes and said perfunctorily, ¡°You should rest early¡±, before leaving quickly. He understood the hidden meaning of Xie Ke¡¯s words. Xie Ke wanted to see what his methods in this fraud case were and whether he could really be used by Xie Ke. Fu Zhiyu in Liuli Palace didn¡¯t care about these things. Today, he was lying lazily on a wicker chair in the yard, stretching out his hand to pick up the muskmelon on the table. Advertisements The fraud case became more and more intense, and the rumours spread all over the city, both inside and outside the palace. The censors investigated for a long time, but more and more people were involved, including the top scorer of the examination. The emperor lost his temper in the court again today. There were rumours that the memorial was thrown to the ground by him, and the scolding was very unpleasant. Fu Zhiyu finished eating the melon in his hand and turned over again. The sun in spring was so comfortable, and the flowers and plants in the yard grew well. The spring flowers were bigger and denser than those elsewhere, forming golden waterfalls, with bees and butterflies flying among them, just like in a painting. Yuan Mingdao was in the centre of this painting. He was training, and he hadn¡¯t stopped practising for more than an hour. ¡°All right, all right,¡± Fu Zhiyu watched for a long time and couldn¡¯t help interrupting him, ¡°Don¡¯t practise for so long, why are you in such a hurry, child? Come, have a sip of sweet soup, take a break and let¡¯s talk.¡± Yuan Mingdao obeyed, regrouped his stance, ran towards Fu Zhiyu, took the bowl in his hand, and took a big sip of sweet lotus seed soup. The soup has been left to cool and a sip of it at this time of the day, with glutinous lotus seeds in it, was indescribably refreshing. After drinking the soup, Yuan Mingdao sat down by Fu Zhiyu¡¯s side. He was so sweaty that he didn¡¯t dare to touch Fu Zhiyu, who was clean all over. He just observed him and said with certainty: ¡°Master has gained weight.¡± ¡°Have I?¡± Fu Zhiyu slowly raised his hand, touched the flesh on his face, and then pinched his arm, which was indeed a little soft. Yuan Mingdao hurriedly added: ¡°It¡¯s a good thing. In winter, Master suffered a lot and was so thin the bones of his wrists could be seen. His waist was thinner than that of a girl.¡± While gesturing with his hands, he used his not-so-large vocabulary to blow a rainbow fart to Fu Zhiyu: ¡°But Master looks good anyway. He looks good when he is thin, and he looks good when he is fat. He looks better than everyone else.¡± Fu Zhiyu had been in a relaxed state recently. He ate whatever he wanted, but he was too lazy to move. Naturally, he would grow some meat. But Yuan Mingdao didn¡¯t lie. After he had gained a little weight, he was indeed more beautiful than before, not as thin as a piece of paper about to blown away by the wind Fu Zhiyu looked at the scenery of the garden as if it were a painting, and the others looked at him this way. The seventeen-year-old young man was dressed in cyan clothes and was lying on the recliner in the pavilion. He didn¡¯t bother to tie his black hair. There seemed to be some fragrance of vegetation on his body, making one feel peaceful as soon as one was near. Taking a closer look, one could notice that the young man apparently thought it was a bit hot in the spring and didn¡¯t even wear shoes. Anyway, he didn¡¯t let anyone come in to serve, so he followed his own wishes. His white feet dangled from the edge of the recliner, so smooth and clean as if carved from a whole piece of white jade. His whole person seemed to be glowing; one couldn¡¯t move their eyes away when they looked at him. ¡°By the way,¡± Fu Zhiyu moved, as if remembering something, and took a closer look at Yuan Mingdao¡¯s arms and calves, asking, ¡°You have been taking my blood for a long time. How is your training nowadays? Is it much better than in the previous life?¡± ¡°Naturally,¡± Yuan Mingdao raised his head and said proudly, ¡°I¡¯ve opened Ren and Du meridians, and I have a foundation, so I take a lot less detours. It¡¯s just that this body is still small now, so I¡¯m still at a bit of a disadvantage against adults. If I continue like this and practise for a few more months, I will be able to return to the level of my previous life, and further progress is obviously just around the corner.¡± Having said that, Yuan Mingdao was a little worried again, took Fu Zhiyu¡¯s hand and said, ¡°Master, don¡¯t draw blood for me anymore. Didn¡¯t you say that as long as I am with you for a long time, it is also effective? Consort Yun and the Yuan family really need it, they need to nurture their bodies, but I really have enough now. You will hurt your body if you take too much blood.¡± Advertisements Fu Zhiyu curled his fingers and knocked on Mingdao¡¯s little head, saying with a smile: ¡°How much blood can you take from me? There are just a few people, and what you eat is diluted and then diluted again. The first time you ate it, it was just a drop, and it took a long time to wear off. It was like a magic potion; dare I give it to someone straight away like that? In a few months, you took just a little bit of blood in total. I only let Dr. Chen draw it once anyway. The thumb-sized jade bottle was not filled yet, and my mother started shaking. The bottle is not finished yet. You guys, ah¡­ such a little bit, it won¡¯t kill me.¡± He had mixed his blood into the food like pine nut candies and pear jam, to make it palatable and to disguise it. It was easy with his mother, but he couldn¡¯t give people in the Yuan residence and Grand Master Xu medicine for no reason, right? Ever since Dr. Chen developed the pills that were all warm tonic medicine and had no side effects anyway, Fu Zhiyu went ahead with them. If someone really checked them carefully, nothing would be found. Other doctors would look at the materials and think everything was fine, praising the good quality of the pills. Pills were better preserved than the food, and he didn¡¯t need to draw blood frequently. Fu Zhiyu was still afraid of a bacterial infection in unhygienic conditions. Besides, he had been reading a lot in the system space, and he also knew that the blood would be metabolised. It was not that it would be gone when it was drawn, let alone being drained like Yuan Mingdao imagined, so he was not worried at all. He had several boxes of these pills stored, all of them made in one go last time. It was not easy for Dr. Chen to sneak around and do something. Fu Zhiyu also gave him a box by the way. Dr. Chen didn¡¯t know that the medicine in the pills was the water mixed with the blood he drew last time. Maybe he guessed something, but anyway, he just did honestly what his master said. As for the pain he felt when Dr. Chen drew his blood, it was like a mosquito bite to him. Compared with the effectiveness, it was negligible. ¡°Besides, if I don¡¯t do it, how can I support my mother and you in the future?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± Yuan Mingdao looked confused; he really didn¡¯t think of this. After being picked up by Fu Zhiyu, he had never worried about money again in his two lifetimes. ¡°Aren¡¯t we very rich?¡± Yuan Mingdao wondered. The clothes he was wearing cost enough for ordinary people to eat for a year. ¡°Do we still need to worry about this?¡± ¡°We are running away, my little friend,¡± Fu Zhiyu sat up on his recliner. ¡°Naturally, the lighter we go, the better. Can you run with gold and silver? Even if we take lighter jade jewellery to exchange for money, many of the things we use now have imperial markings. The pawnshop will recognise it at a glance. How will they dare to exchange these things for money? Even if we take something that can¡¯t be recognised and get money in exchange, we can¡¯t just sit on it, or expect to be fed by my uncles all the time, can we?¡± It was hard to go from luxury to frugality; he wasn¡¯t going to run away with his mother and Mingdao to endure hardships. Naturally, all these things had to be well planned, money included. Yuan Mingdao thought about it carefully, and it really made sense. ¡°I, I¡¯m already very well-fed.¡± He still tried his best to dispel Fu Zhiyu¡¯s idea, ¡°No need to spend much money on me in the future. And I¡¯m very good at martial arts, I can make money.¡± Yuan Mingdao thought about it carefully again and wanted to find an example for Fu Zhiyu how he could make a lot of money. However, it was not difficult to make some small money with high martial skills, but it was a bit difficult to make a lot of money immediately, unless you killed people for profit. Fu Zhiyu stroked his head soothingly, telling him not to worry, and said: ¡°Don¡¯t fret, I have a sense of proportion. Even if I want to sell, I won¡¯t sell a lot to the public and I will never reveal the ingredients. I will sell it little by little. Rare things are valuable. It will be enough to feed the few of us. Besides, although we can¡¯t always rely on my uncles to eat, we can still use their help.¡± When Yuan Jiangwen was young, he chose the way of commerce. It was really hard work. At first, he sold things like tea and silk, but later he started to sell all kinds of goods, making money while trading things between countries. Fu Zhiyu heard that he had also taken some ships out to sea. In recent years, his uncle was getting too old to run around. Various caravans kept operating in a decent manner, but the profits were less than at the beginning. Yuan Jiangwen began to settle down instead, working as a money lender, pawnbroker and opened a restaurant and an inn in the south, unexpectedly making more than before. The capital didn¡¯t value business, as if merchants were inferior, and those who had some money would have their children study for the imperial examinations. But the south was different. Rumours were that merchants there had a high status, the market was prosperous, the bazaars were brightly lit all night, and there were many merchants who were beyond rich. It was not uncommon for them to throw piles of money to get what they wanted. According to Fu Zhiyu¡¯s considerations, pawnshops could come in handy at this time. He knew that pawnshops would regularly sell some things that were not redeemed in time. Some ordinary pawned things would be disposed of in bulk, but if there was something more precious, it would be used for auction. Naturally, this kind of auction would not reveal the seller and the pawnshops would keep it secret where they received the goods. It was safe and very in line with his plan to make a fortune quietly. Fu Zhiyu planned to sell his pills there, and there was no hurry. When the time came, if his younger uncle took more of the medicine, he would surely have some understanding. Even if Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t say anything, his uncle would take the initiative to ask; he had that necessary sensitivity a businessman must have. Even Hua Tuo (a famous doctor at the end of Han Dynasty) couldn¡¯t make such a medicine while he was alive, so naturally it wouldn¡¯t be a problem to sell it. If it was done, Fu Zhiyu would be a mobile cash cow. ¡°It¡¯s a secret, oh,¡± Fu Zhiyu winked at Yuan Mingdao, ¡°between you, me and Mother Consort.¡± CH 36 In the past few days, the palace had not been peaceful. Apart from the fraud case, the harem intrigues didn¡¯t spare the emperor much trouble either. Fu Zhiyu listened to Caimei¡¯s gossip that Momo Gui from Linyue Tower had a conflict with Hua Ruixuan at some point. Momo Gui was used to being a tyrant in the palace. Although her master had told her not to cause trouble for the time being, she couldn¡¯t swallow her anger. She felt that some unpopular concubine in the palace couldn¡¯t afford to make any waves, so she still found a chance and confronted Ah Ye, the maid of the Thirteenth Prince, this time targeting the birth mother of the Thirteenth Prince. The birth mother of the Thirteenth Prince Fu Yanran was just a meiren (lit. ¡°a beauty¡±, a low-ranked member of the harem). Fu Zhiyu remembered that she seemed to be a palace lady who was accidentally favoured by Fu Qingyan. Emperor Qingyuan had forgotten her after sleeping with her once. Even though she gave birth to a prince, she was not remembered. She was not even the master of Hua Ruixuan. She was timid by nature, serving people as long as she remembered. After becoming the mother of a prince, she still had no air of authority. When facing Momo Gui, she would only cry. Both she and Ah Ye were completely controlled by Momo Gui and didn¡¯t dare to resist. This time Momo Gui was smart. She didn¡¯t choose the imperial garden, she went directly to the side hall of Hua Ruixuan, the place that was hardly different from the cold palace. There was no point to scream for help there, no one would listen. But just when Ah Ye was almost tortured to death, Fu Yanran came back. As soon as he came in, he saw his mother in an extremely wretched state. It rained a little that day, and her clothes were in disarray. She had welts on her body, as if she was beaten with a whip. She knelt on the ground in this weather, trembling with cold, and didn¡¯t dare to get up. Ah Ye lay there unconscious, nearly dead, and the entire place was in chaos, the scene of a real tragedy. This child, Fu Yanran, was unexpectedly smart, reacting much faster than last time. He yelled on the spot, desperately grabbed Momo Gui¡¯s hand to prevent her from leaving, and then began to scream. In fact, Hua Ruixuan¡¯s master, Consort Jun, had heard the noise a long time ago and knew what was going on, but she didn¡¯t dare to interfere. However, Fu Yanran shouted that he was going to hit the pillar and kill himself, and everyone would pay for it. The unpopular prince was also a prince. If he really died, he was going to enter the imperial mausoleum. There would be an investigation. The Imperial Court of the Judicial Review would work hard to make up for the fact they hadn¡¯t found anything in the Wang Zhao incident last time. Then it would be impossible for the emperor not to know about this matter. Advertisements The prince in the side hall of Hua Ruixuan was killed. The prince¡¯s birth mother was obviously injured. The maidservant was almost tortured to death. The whole room seemed to be swept by a tornado. There was no need to investigate, the problem was obvious at first glance. At that time, Linyue Tower would not be in trouble, it would be Consort Jun, the master of Hua Ruixuan, who would naturally have to bear the blame for this crime. She couldn¡¯t sit still anymore, so she immediately took the eunuchs and palace maids and went out. But if one Consort Jun was not enough, the Crown Prince Fu Lingxiao, whether really passing by and hearing the noise or having planned it a long time ago, came in with a bunch of guards and eunuchs at the most chaotic moment. Fu Yanran, this little guy, was really a cruel person. He clearly knew that the Crown Prince was here, and Momo Gui couldn¡¯t escape under the noses of so many people. Her hand was released, but instead, as if he had suffered a great grievance, Fu Yanran cried out and literally hit the pillar in full view of everyone, breaking his head, bleeding and passing out on the spot. After Fu Zhiyu heard it, he had to applaud Fu Yanran. He did what he said, he dared to plan and act on his plan. He was really powerful and ruthless. There was really no such thing in the previous life as Momo Gui bumping into Ah Ye on the way to deliver medicine to Fu Rongli. At this time in Fu Zhiyu¡¯s previous life, Linyue Tower was still in lockup. How could there be any medicine to take? Naturally there was no such a conflict. The butterfly effect was causing a hurricane that was getting bigger and bigger. In fact, this matter could be big or small. A single consort who knew the truth couldn¡¯t make too many waves; Linyue Tower had many ways to deal with her. But there was Fu Lingxiao involved. This was an additional problem for Linyue Tower in the midst of anxiety over the imperial examination fraud case. Fu Lingxiao was someone who was good at adding fuel to the fire. Fu Yanran had used his strength and the injury on his forehead was not fake. Emperor Qingyuan really didn¡¯t care about this son but he was angry that Linyue Tower was arrogant and domineering to such an extent that a slave dared to bully a master unscrupulously. Emperor Qingyuan¡¯s suspicion reached its peak at this time. The most untouchable bottom line in his life was to be hoodwinked and controlled by others. He felt that the Xue family and Linyue Tower seemed to have put the knife to his neck, and it made him feel extremely furious from the bottom of his heart. At this time, Fu Zhiyu was a little hesitant to help Fu Rongye indirectly, for example, to give him some inside information about the fraud case. As long as there was a note or a sentence, with Fu Rongye¡¯s ability, he could grab a life-saving straw and investigate it. It would be a matter of time before the truth was discovered and it would lead to Fu Lingxiao directly. Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t want to see one side have the advantage. This meant that the situation couldn¡¯t get chaotic. Only when the sides were equal in strength could it be possible for them to completely shed the pretence of civility and fight openly. Fu Zhiyu hoped that this point in time would come a little earlier. However, in the past few days, it was okay to let Linyue Tower suffer a little bit, so that they could learn not to bully people all the time. If you kick the iron plate, you will eat the bitter fruit yourself. But before it was Fu Zhiyu¡¯s turn to make a move, someone else popped up. Advertisements It was the top scorer Shen Yang. After the censors found out that he was involved, the Ministry of Justice arrested him in the Hanlin Academy the next day and put him in jail. He was naturally questioned under torture. But the evidence had not been completely collected yet; also, Shen Yang was a scholar, so the Ministry of Justice was merciful and didn¡¯t hit him too hard. However, Shen Yang denied everything and said that he had evidence and a witness. Once this witness was mentioned, the Ministry of Justice didn¡¯t dare to do anything. It was Grand Master Xu. Grand Master Xu was in his eighties and he was already exempted from the daily morning court sessions by the emperor, who was afraid that if he had to get up early and go to court in the cold and heat, it would be bad for his health. Some time ago, Grand Master Xu fell ill and took a leave of absence. He didn¡¯t show up for several months in a row. He even rejected such a big task as the imperial examination. Now he stood, leaning on crutches and wearing an official uniform solemnly, wanting to testify for his student Shen Yang in front of the emperor. On the way to the Yuan residence last time, Fu Zhiyu saw Shen Yang walking out of Grand Master Xu¡¯s house contentedly. He thought She Yang was just paying respects to his benefactor at that time. Now it seemed that his thinking was too simple. The friendship between the teacher and the student was not enough to make Grand Master Xu wade into this muddy water. Shen Yang must have had conclusive evidence to prove that he was innocent. This made Fu Zhiyu feel extremely puzzled. Why did Shen Yang have evidence? Where did he learn all this? On the day he went to the Yuan residence, there was only a hint of the fraud case. Fu Rongye and the Xue family had just received the news. How did Shen Yang know all this in advance and went to find Grand Master Xu first? Weird, so weird. The fraud case was about to be wrapped up, but because of Shen Yang¡¯s evidence, it was overturned. Investigating cases these days was slow and it was difficult to collect evidence, but Shen Yang was like a prophet covered in whip marks, leading the Imperial Court of the Judicial Review to follow the traces and investigate smoothly, verifying his ideas step by step and putting the ¡°truth¡± of the whole case in front of the emperor. Although the process went smoothly, the matter was so important that the court investigated it from spring until early summer, when the truth was finally revealed. The final outcome was not what Fu Zhiyu expected, but it was exactly what he wanted, and it was a bit like the ending in the original book. The scope of the fraud case had been narrowed a lot. Everyone, including Shen Yang, was completely cleared of suspicion, and some unscrupulous officials were arrested. The highest among them was the fourth-rank official. The Xue family and the Third Prince who were in charge of the current imperial examination were just guilty of not being strict enough and were punished with some fines that didn¡¯t hurt, just itched, which was much better than could have been. However, the emperor was still very wary of the Xue family because of the Thirteenth Prince¡¯s incident. One thing set off the other. The Xue family had been tossing for so long but they hadn¡¯t gotten the slightest benefit, just suffered a lot of dumb losses. The Crown Prince didn¡¯t get much benefit either, and the subsequent investigation was actually stopped by the emperor. Emperor Qingyuan had some conjectures about who planned to splash dirty water on the Xue family but it was difficult to find evidence now. No one benefited from this matter; strictly speaking, apart from two people. One was Shen Yang. After this incident, the emperor really valued him and arranged for him to enter the Ministry of Justice. Although his rank was still not high, the fifth, anyone with a discerning eye could see that the emperor intended to cultivate him and his promotion would be a matter of time. He and Xie Ke together increasingly became the leaders of the younger generation in the dynasty, one among scholars and one in the military. The other was Fu Yanran. The emperor seemed to feel that the Third Prince and the Crown Prince were gradually beginning to be disobedient. No matter which one of these two he chose, he couldn¡¯t remain the emperor with peace of mind. But fortunately, there were many children in the palace; so what if they were from a worse background? That was how they could be controlled and kept in obedience. How could he feel at ease if everyone was as powerful as the eldest and the third princes, more powerful than he, the emperor? Fu Yanran, this child, really surprised Fu Qingyan. He did his homework very well, and he had some potential in both civil and martial arts, but he hadn¡¯t been seriously taught by a good teacher. Yet, he was still young now, and he still had time. Fu Qingyan began to consciously train Fu Yanran. After the forehead injury was healed and after having him taught him according to his ideas for a month, the emperor went to see him again. The result was unexpectedly good; Fu Yanran didn¡¯t lose to the Crown Prince and Fu Rongye. However, Emperor Qingyuan felt privately that Fu Yanran was still not as good as the previous Zhiyu. With the kind of life Fu Yanran had lived before, now that he was given a chance, he naturally grabbed whatever he could to climb up. Even if he didn¡¯t sleep, he would read a book, hungrily trying his best to grasp everything available to him. Fu Qingyan was pleasantly surprised and began to pay attention to other princes he hadn¡¯t paid attention to before. The Third Prince aside, the Fifth Prince was really not smart. In the past, there were not many children in the palace and the emperor had cultivated them all. But if the mud can¡¯t hold the wall, forget it. Next were Zhiyu and Rongli, then the Eleventh Prince, and then the Thirteenth Prince Fu Yanran. The Sixteenth Prince was only three years old and the youngest Eighteenth was less than one year old; the rest were all princesses. Wait, the Eleventh Prince? Fu Qingyan rummaged through his memory hard, trying to remember this child. The Eleventh Prince Fu Yanxi, who was thirteen years old this year, was from a much better background than Fu Yanran. His grandfather was Grand Master Li, but he had been dead for ten years. His mother, Consort Yue, was not much of a beauty. Fu Qingyan had married her back then to bring in some power. After a short while, he ignored her. It took Fu Qingyan a long time to recall why he didn¡¯t like Consort Yue. The Li family was bookish. The woman had been studying since she was a child and was talented, but Emperor Qingyuan was only interested in her talents for a while. Then he felt that she was too boring. She was reading books every day and was lukewarm to him. Once he came to visit her, and she was still holding a book in her hand, which was really crazy. The Eleventh Prince was the same as Consort Yue, addicted to books. There was no harm in reading more, but too much was too much. Emperor Qingyuan remembered that when Fu Yanxi was eight years old, he checked the child¡¯s homework and misremembered a word in the ¡°Theory of Resources and Governance¡±. Fu Yanxi pointed it out on the spot with a serious expression that didn¡¯t give the emperor any face. Even when Emperor Qingyuan was going to leave, he was told by Fu Yanxi insistently: ¡°Although Father Emperor is busy, he must keep working hard. Otherwise, what can he do if his deficiency is exposed?¡± Fu Qingyan: ¡°???¡± How can a child this old educate me? Did I give birth to a teacher for myself? But the emperor couldn¡¯t be angry with an eight-year-old boy; it would make him look narrow-minded. He treated it as the words of a child, but after that, he never went to Consort Yue¡¯s palace again, so as not to make himself angry. Now it seemed that Fu Yanxi¡¯s ignorance of etiquette was not that important. Just teach more rules, and if he spoke bluntly¡­ At least he was honest. CH 37 Not long after the fraud case was over, it was time for the traditional summer banquet in the palace. On a cool and breezy evening, the consorts and concubines of each palace would gather together. After the banquet, the emperor and the Empress Dowager would give them some rewards and open an ice warehouse to make the harem feel better in the hot summer. Fu Zhiyu and Consort Yun had been very low-key recently, but this special traditional banquet was difficult to skip, so they had to come. It was a very lively affair, and the food on the table was also very rich. But Fu Zhiyu, his mother and Mingdao had already had a delicious meal before coming here, and they couldn¡¯t eat anymore. Fu Zhiyu only took some fruit and began to observe the people at the banquet covertly. Everyone was present. Even the empress who couldn¡¯t be seen normally was here. She was holding a string of beads in her hand. She hadn¡¯t eaten, and her upper body hardly moved, except for her fingers slowly touching the beads in her hand. She looked like a Bodhisattva; with her sitting far apart from Emperor Qingyuan, they both represented a true portrayal of a couple that had the appearance of unity but was divided at heart. Further down, there was the Empress Dowager sitting on one side and the Crown Prince Fu Lingxiao on the other. Naturally, opposite Fu Lingxiao was Fu Zhiyu and his mother, followed by Consort Xue and her two sons. But further down the line, the ranking changed. Sitting in such a front position for the first time, Consort Yue didn¡¯t have the slightest expression on her face. She lowered her head and was talking to the Eleventh Prince Fu Yanxi. She looked very serious, but Fu Zhiyu heard a sentence or two. The two of them were clearly discussing whether the descriptions of the grasslands beyond the border in ¡°Qingming Record¡± were too flamboyant and smacked of piling up rhetoric. Consort Wen was sitting next to her, feeding rice cakes to the Sixteenth Princes who was crying; Consort Cen was opposite her, with the Fifth Prince and several daughters. These three were all consorts. Below the consorts were imperial concubines, headed by the newly named Concubine Yi. She was Fu Yanran¡¯s birth mother, the former Meiren Zhao of Hua Ruixuan. After Fu Yanran got the emperor¡¯s attention, she naturally soared along with him, but her origin was too low, and it was a miracle for her to jump from a meiren to an imperial concubine. She and her son quickly moved out of the side hall of Hua Ruixuan and moved into the Qinyi House not far from the imperial study. Concubine Yi looked very different from before. She bowed her head and talked to Fu Yanran gracefully, and her behaviour was not as timid as before and a bit more at ease. A mother is strong (from the expression ¡°A woman is weak but a mother is strong¡±); she couldn¡¯t let her son be ashamed of her in front of others. Advertisements After Concubine Yi, there were more people, seven or eight imperial concubines, guiren (¡°noble lady¡±, a rank higher than meiren), meiren and so on, countless lively people. The number of people in Fu Qingyan¡¯s harem was always changing, and Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t carefully calculate how many there were now. Among all these people, Fu Yanran had changed the most. He was dressed in brocade and silk, a young man pleased with himself. He seemed to notice Fu Zhiyu¡¯s gaze, turned his head and smiled slightly at Fu Zhiyu. Fu Zhiyu wasn¡¯t worried and smiled back at him calmly. How nice; Fu Zhiyu slowly turned his head, very satisfied with the current state of affairs. Fu Qingyan began to feel panicked and tried to cultivate new forces among the princes in order to regain his ideal balance. But the more weights he added to the scales, the more the scales would shake. So although Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t like this occasion, what he observed made him happy. Moreover, this was a harem gathering, and Xie Ke had to avoid suspicion and stay outside. Finally, Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t have to endure his overwhelming gaze, which also made him feel a lot more relaxed. Towards the end of the banquet, the consorts and concubines gradually began to leave the table. What Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t expect was that Fu Yanxi, who was sitting opposite, took advantage of this moment to brush against him and secretly slip him a booklet under the table. Fu Zhiyu was puzzled and asked him in a low voice, ¡°What is this?¡± ¡°This is a copy I made from Ninth Brother¡¯s previous painting and calligraphy,¡± Fu Yanxi whispered in a voice that only two people could hear, with obvious excitement in his tone, ¡°Ninth Brother is very good, I can¡¯t learn to be as good. Mother Consort often praised you, saying that you were a star from the sky, but this world couldn¡¯t bear you. She also praised the Imperial Noble Consort Yun, saying that her qin sound was heavenly, but unfortunately, she only plays it for Father Emperor now.¡± Fu Zhiyu: ¡°¡­¡­¡± It was really a pair of honest mother and son, daring to say this kind of thing. But after being in the palace for so long, they should have also had a sense of proportion, at least not saying this in front of Emperor Qingyuan. However, Emperor Qingyuan had been scared recently, so he liked honesty and it was not necessarily a bad thing. Fu Zhiyu flipped through the booklet casually. It was true, he could see traces of Fu Yanxi¡¯s style from it. ¡°But I can¡¯t draw or write now,¡± Fu Zhiyu said. ¡°That¡¯s what happens when you hurt your brain. I can¡¯t do such delicate things anymore.¡± ¡°I know,¡± Fu Yanxi looked regretful for a while, and then raised his bright eyes to look at Fu Zhiyu, ¡°But if I can do what the Ninth Brother did one day, even if it¡¯s only for one day, I¡¯ll be satisfied.¡± Before he left, he looked at Fu Zhiyu reluctantly and urged: ¡°Even if your brain is damaged, you have to study more, you know?¡± Fu Zhiyu: ¡°¡­okay.¡± This mother and son were quite interesting, their hearts full of books, books and books. If they were allowed to go to the Library of the Hanlin Academy with ten thousand books, maybe these two would not want to be a consort and a prince. But not everyone was so broad-minded as Fu Zhiyu. Advertisements ¡°A bastard born of a cheap maidservant and a nerd who can¡¯t speak politely, are these two actually in the limelight? The emperor, is he crazy?¡± As soon as Consort Xue returned to Linyue Tower from the banquet, she couldn¡¯t hold back her anger any longer and dropped the teacup in her hand. ¡°Keep your voice down,¡± Fu Rongye made a gesture to her. He didn¡¯t seem to be in a fluctuating mood, very calm. Her son¡¯s advice didn¡¯t help Consort Xue suppress her anger. Momo Gui was naturally disposed of. She made such a big trouble for the Xue family at this juncture, it was impossible to spare her. In the end, only Fu Rongli couldn¡¯t bear it, and at least she was buried properly instead of being thrown into a mass grave to be eaten by wild dogs. Linyue Tower lacked the senior maidservant now, and everything was not going well. The temperature of the tea delivered was wrong, and the decorations were not good-looking here and there. Consort Xue was already very angry, and these bits and pieces made her even more unhappy. ¡°Father didn¡¯t like the Xue family in the first place, did he?¡± Fu Rongye said, ¡°We forced him like that before, and finally he was able to hold onto the power. Whether it was given to the Crown Prince or to me, he would feel uncomfortable.¡± Even though she had already told the servants to leave, Consort Xue was still a little nervous when she heard this. She looked around for a long time and couldn¡¯t bother to lose her temper anymore. The absent-minded Fu Rongli, who was sitting aside, also felt that something was wrong. He leaned over and asked anxiously: ¡°Brother, what does this mean¡­?¡± ¡°I thought that Fu Zhiyu was our worst enemy, and Father Emperor liked him the most, but since that incident, this thought has been dispelled.¡± Fu Rongye glanced at him and continued, ¡°In fact, like the Crown Prince, we are not his favourite sons, because the other half of the blood flowing in us always disgusts him to the extreme.¡± Consort Xue was taken aback and cried out, ¡°But you are his sons, the ones he always taught¡­¡± But she knew very well what had happened before, and she also knew that Fu Rongye was telling the truth. The Lin family and the Xue family were the two families who chose Fu Qingyan as their puppet in the first place. Even if Fu Qingyan came to power later, he had no way to uproot the authority of these families. They could only get along like this, pretending that those things in the past had never happened. There were no eternal enemies in the world, only eternal interests. Later, the Lin and Xue families and the emperor got along passably, and the two sides got what they needed. Prime Minister Xue was still the prime minister, and General Lin was still prestigious. However, under such circumstances, the Lin and Xue families gradually changed. Originally, General Lin was the dominant figure in the whole matter. He had military power in his hands, and Prime Minister Xue had to lower his head in front of him. But Fu Qingyan¡¯s increasing strength brought some benefits to the Xue family. The military power of the Lin family was cut down, and Xie Lin was given a large piece of power. Consort Xue gave birth to two princes. Fu Rongye¡¯s excellence was comparable to that of the Crown Prince. The Xue family originally only cooperated, but now, they also had a chance to compete for the throne. Fu Rongye paused, and then dropped another bomb: ¡°Grandfather sent the news. He said that General Lin¡¯s soldiers have moved.¡± ¡°The Crown Prince is thinking¡­?¡± Fu Rongli reacted quickly and took a deep breath, ¡°Is he crazy?¡± Fu Rongye shook his head and said, ¡°He¡¯s not crazy. If you have seen Fu Yanran, you know that Fu Lingxiao¡¯s only choice is to do this.¡± Consort Xue¡¯s voice became shrill: ¡°That palace maid¡¯s bastard son? It¡¯s just a moment of glory, what the hell is he?¡± ¡°Mother Consort, this bastard born to the palace maid is very smart and learns things quickly. The Crown Prince must regret it now. He used to treat the Thirteenth as a pawn to be used and thrown away, but he didn¡¯t expect this child to really catch the emperor¡¯s eye. And the emperor discovered a more important point. It turned out that none of us were the best choice,¡± Fu Rongye continued. ¡°The emperor¡¯s favourite and most desirable child is brain-damaged. We are not very obedient. But Fu Yanran is different. He has no background and is very obedient. He can only rely on the emperor and can be controlled by him forever. Even if we kill Fu Yanran, there is an alternative, Fu Yanxi, and Father will only be more vigilant. In some ways, Fu Yanxi is even more difficult to deal with. Although Grand Master Li is dead, his students are all over the world. Many people in the court were taught by him and the Li family is not without backers. Mother Consort, Brother Li, open your eyes and take a look. Do you still think these two people are just having a moment of glory? In fact, Father¡¯s thoughts have always been very clear. If he can¡¯t give the throne to his favourite son, he has to give it to the most obedient one.The Crown Prince and I are both the baits that dangled in front of the Xue and Lin families not to let them bounce too much.¡± ¡°He¡­¡± Consort Xue¡¯s voice began to tremble, ¡°Do you mean, he will really give the throne to Fu Yanran? To the son of a palace maid?¡± ¡°He is nothing now, but Father is still in good health. He is forty-six years old. I don¡¯t think it will be difficult for him to live for another ten years. By then, Fu Yanran will be in his early twenties, which is the best age. Everything is just right. Why is it impossible?¡± Fu Rongye said, ¡°Mother Consort, Fu Lingxiao is smart. This person is like a mouse. He started to make holes before the flood came. Are we really going to do nothing?¡± It was difficult to get Consort Xue to accept this. She had never thought that such a method could be used. This was a treason and a rebellion. After Fu Zhiyu¡¯s brain was damaged, she felt that the throne would be handed over to Fu Rongye smoothly. The Crown Prince was just a trivial episode; just like Fu Zhiyu, whom she hated, he would eventually be trampled under her son¡¯s feet. ¡°What does Brother want to do?¡± Fu Rongli was much calmer than her, ¡°I will obey Brother in everything.¡± Fu Rongye¡¯s fingers moved; his face darkened and he said, ¡°It is not too late to plan ahead for a rainy day. Grandfather has already started to make his move, wait and see.¡± CH 38 Planning ahead for a rainy day was really a good expression, and for Fu Zhiyu too. He slept comfortably after the banquet until the next morning. After the ice warehouse opened, he was even more reluctant to go out. After staying at home for another period of time, he received a letter from the Yuan family. It was sent by his younger uncle. There were three letters, one for his mother, one for him, and one for Mingdao.The letter for Mingdao, judging by the childish writing on the envelope, should have been written by Yuan Lu. Fu Zhiyu gave the letter to the child and opened his own. The younger uncle greeted him as usual and said that he had bought some things in the south again and had sent a caravan to the capital. He asked Fu Zhiyu to pick what he liked. After that, he really mentioned the box of medicine given to him by Fu Zhiyu. He said that his wife had suffered a lot in her early years; her legs and feet were not good and hurt when it rained. Several doctors tried to cure her but without any success. One day, she took the pill given by Fu Zhiyu and it was effective the same day. She felt that it didn¡¯t hurt as much as before. After a month, she increased the dose half-confidently and half-cautiously, and the improvement was obvious to the naked eye. Yuan Jiangwen was happy and a little suspicious at the same time. He wrote a letter to ask Fu Zhiyu some questions carefully. He said that he asked a famous doctor to analyse the pills, and the doctor said that the materials used were indeed good and precious, but he couldn¡¯t see how exactly this medicine worked, and the doses of various herbs were difficult to figure out and couldn¡¯t be copied. What he meant was: since this was something developed by Dr. Chen and they were not strangers, could this recipe be sold to him? The recipe of Dr. Chen was very well-known to Fu Zhiyu; he could give it, but he was afraid that it would be difficult to reproduce this medicine. After Fu Zhiyu finished reading the letter, he thought for a while, took a piece of paper from the drawer and wrote back to his uncle. He wrote succinctly, just writing down all the ideas he had mentioned to Yuan Mingdao last time, saying that the recipe naturally could be given but the special ingredient was the secret of Dr. Chen and couldn¡¯t be disclosed. However, the medicine could be prepared and sold to the outside world, just that the quantity was not large, whether he was willing or not. Fu Zhiyu sent out another small box of pills with the letter. This one was not for sale, it was just that he had no more use for it over here, so he sent some there. Yuan Jiangwen¡¯s caravan that brought things to the capital hadn¡¯t left yet and it was convenient for Fu Zhiyu to send the pills back with it. After he sent this letter, he was in a good mood, feeling that everything was going in the direction he wanted. He hummed a little tune and took a nap with peace of mind. After he got up at noon, he saw Dr. Chen routinely checking his mother¡¯s pulse. ¡°Imperial Noble Consort Yun¡¯s health is much better than before.¡± After checking the pulse, Dr. Chen prescribed some warming and tonic medicines as usual, and couldn¡¯t help but marvel, ¡°Even old diseases have signs of gradual healing, I don¡¯t know if it is¡­¡± He went silent halfway through speaking. If it weren¡¯t for being too surprised, he wouldn¡¯t even have said the first half of the sentence. It was a rule not to pry into his master¡¯s affairs. Advertisements What Dr. Chen said was true. The improvement of Consort Yun¡¯s health was reflected on her face. She looked radiant, a lot younger, and was in a much better mood. Compared with before, she also smiled much more. ¡°Just now Caiyan went to the embroidery room to pick up my clothes, and she ran into Eunuch Ping of the emperor. He said your residence was restored to its appropriate condition,¡± Consort Yun said. ¡°In the next few days, you probably have to pick a time to take a look. Select some decorations and furnishings you like for the craftsmen to make, and you will be ready to move in at the end of the year.¡± ¡°I have time,¡± Fu Zhiyu looked out the window. The sun was not very bright and it was cloudy today. It was a rare cloudy day, and a rare day when it wasn¡¯t too hot. ¡°Why don¡¯t I go this afternoon and come back after selecting the decorations? Then I can still catch up with dinner.¡± When going out, Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t forget to take Yuan Mingdao. There was his own courtyard planned for him in the residence. Although they would run away sooner or later, after all, it was going to be Fu Zhiyu¡¯s house for a while. He naturally wanted to make the residence more comfortable, and it could be regarded as a rare thing that he was interested in these days. Or you could say, if you didn¡¯t engage in competing with others and didn¡¯t get entangled with Xie Ke, everything else was interesting. Due to the unpleasant experiences of the previous few times, Fu Zhiyu hadn¡¯t taken the route through the imperial garden. He carefully selected another way. In theory, no one should have been there. But theory was theory, and reality was reality. Before he took a few steps, he met Fu Rongli head-on. Fu Rongli also had sharp eyes and saw him at a glance. His face stiffened and he walked towards Fu Zhiyu quickly. What did this troublemaker want to do again? Fu Zhiyu sighed in his heart, but by that time Fu Rongli had already walked up to him and asked straightforwardly: ¡°Did you do it?¡± ¡°What does Eighth Brother mean?¡± Fu Zhiyu sighed inwardly again but blinked innocently on the surface, ¡°I don¡¯t understand.¡± ¡°Momo Gui came back and told me that you asked the guard to beat her, so she went to Hua Ruixuan with a grudge. How could that little brat Fu Yanran have the guts to do those things? You taught him, didn¡¯t you?¡± Fu Rongli became more and more excited as he spoke, but he still retained some sanity and lowered his voice so that no one else could hear him, ¡°You are not stupid at all!¡± Yo, Fu Zhiyu sighed, although the troublemaker¡¯s thorough analysis was useless, the conclusion was correct. Fu Rongli was not dumb, he was just not good at studying, but his mind worked quickly in other areas. The ice lake and then poisoning, this guy had done those things without telling Consort Xue and Fu Rongye. The whole thing was very organised and done with a steady and ruthless hand that most people really couldn¡¯t match. Neither the Crown Prince nor the Third Prince originally believed that Fu Zhiyu was stupid. They watched him for a long time from the shadows, and then saw the things Fu Zhiyu did one after another. According to their logic, there was no other way to explain them except that he was really stupid. But Fu Rongli had his own logic. He looked at the essence behind the actions. He intuitively felt that Fu Zhiyu, except for being lazier than before, was still smart and capable. How could he really be brain-damaged? ¡°Just keep pretending,¡± Fu Rongli snorted coldly, ¡°I¡¯ll see who can protect you when the time comes.¡± Advertisements It was kind of funny how the troublemaker looked a little smug and didn¡¯t want to give anything away. When he walked past Fu Zhiyu, he childishly tried to step on his foot, but Fu Zhiyu took a step back at this moment and turned around. Fu Rongli didn¡¯t step on him, his body tilted and he almost fell. He was so angry that he gave Fu Zhiyu another fierce glare before hurriedly leaving. ¡°What¡¯s wrong with him?¡± Yuan Mingdao asked Fu Zhiyu in a low voice, ¡°He just said a few harsh words and left.¡± Fu Zhiyu shook his head. The beginning of Fu Rongli¡¯s speech was normal, but the last part was a bit strange if you thought about it. ¡°I have to go to the Yuan residence first,¡± Fu Zhiyu said, ¡°There are some things I need to ask.¡± Old Master Yuan was the imperial envoy in charge of the purchase of forage for the army. If Fu Zhiyu asked directly, according to the old man¡¯s character, he would definitely not say anything. These were military secrets and couldn¡¯t be disclosed to anyone by law. And the old man didn¡¯t know that Fu Zhiyu was just pretending to be stupid, so it would be really strange for him to ask these things. Fu Zhiyu had just received a letter from his uncle, saying that he had sent some things for him, so he used this excuse to go to the Yuan residence, talked to the old man and Mrs. Yuan for a while, then declined Mrs. Yuan¡¯s invitation to stay for dinner and took Yuan Mingdao to his residence that was being repaired. ¡°There¡¯s movement in the army.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± Yuan Mingdao was puzzled, ¡°But the Old Master didn¡¯t mention anything just now.¡± Fu Zhiyu said quietly: ¡°Now in the early summer is the time when the grain is out of stock. The imperial court generally doesn¡¯t buy grain at this time. Grandfather is in charge of this kind of thing, and he used to be very idle at this time of the year in the past. Today, I saw that his eyes were bloodshot and he looked tired. His neck and collar were obviously tanned, his lapels were dirty and even his shoes were changed. He usually wears the official shoes, but as soon as it is the season to collect grain and he has to check the grain situation everywhere, he changes to those soft-soled black shoes so that he could walk more comfortably. I asked Grandmother whether the younger uncle was nagging in the letter again, worried that there were no young men in the Yuan residence, afraid that something would happen. Grandmother smiled and said that everything was as usual at home, so there was no need to worry. If there is nothing unusual at home, then Grandfather¡¯s frequent trips can only be for his job. He collects forage at this time, that is, there are changes in the army, there is not enough food in stock and the situation is urgent.¡± It was not up to the third-rank official to decide how much forage to buy for the army and how much to use. It required the emperor¡¯s personal order. ¡°Is there going to be a war on the border?¡± Yuan Mingdao thought carefully for a while, ¡°But there was no such thing in the previous life, was there?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Fu Zhiyu said, ¡°Mingdao, the experience of the previous life is not a golden rule, the world is changing all the time.¡± There was one thing he hadn¡¯t said yet. The imperial court had so much food in stock for the army that even if there was a battle, there would be nothing to worry about. But now it was collecting more food, so it was clear how serious the matter was. Because of this incident, Fu Zhiyu was a little absent-minded when he went to his new residence. The place was already good enough. He just made a few requests and left the rest to the craftsmen to do as they wished. After all these things were done, it was already dark. The craftsmen lit the lamps, and Fu Zhiyu was about to return to the palace with a lantern in his hand. When he walked to the door, a voice came from behind: ¡°Wang Zhao, wait.¡± Fu Zhiyu heard that this was Xie Ke. Not only did he not wait, but he walked faster. But Xie Ke was also fast. He caught up and stopped Fu Zhiyu in front of the carriage. The guards pulled out their swords in an instant, but they knew Xie Ke and knew who he was. According to his rank, Xie Ke, as the imperial guard, was their immediate boss, so the raised swords didn¡¯t look very firm. Fu Zhiyu rubbed his brow, asked Yuan Mingdao to get into the carriage first, and then asked in full view of the crowd: ¡°What does Young Master Xie want?¡± ¡°There is something important.¡± Xie Ke said, smiling again and coming closer, saying in a voice only two people could hear, ¡°Doesn¡¯t Zhiyu want to know exactly what Old Master Yuan has been up to lately?¡± Fu Zhiyu: ¡°¡­¡­¡± For a moment, he really wondered whether Xie Ke knew him too well, or if he had exchanged points for something strange and put surveillance on him. He also reacted quickly, motioning Xie Ke to walk ahead. Still carrying the lantern in his hand, Fu Zhiyu walked right up to the wall. If they kept their voices down a little bit, the guards couldn¡¯t hear the conversation, but they could see him. If there was a sign of trouble, they would be able to rush up immediately. As soon as he stopped, Xie Ke said, ¡°I¡¯m leaving.¡± Fu Zhiyu was taken aback and finally showed a sincere smile on his face: ¡°Congratulations, Young Master Xie.¡± ¡°What is there to congratulate with?¡± ¡°When an imperial guard goes out, there must be a good errand, just like the last martial arts examination. Shouldn¡¯t he be congratulated then?¡± Fu Zhiyu said, ¡°Of course, congratulations to myself as well for finally getting a clean break.¡± ¡°I¡¯m serious, Zhiyu,¡± Xie Ke sighed, and his tone became solemn. ¡°There is going to be a war soon. The emperor gave Xie Lin special orders, and I¡¯m going with him to the frontier to participate in the war.¡± CH 39 Although Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t like talking to Xie Ke, what he said now was indeed important, and it was closely related to his own plans. At this point in his previous life, the frontier was extremely peaceful, but now that even General Zhongyong Xie Lin was about to be dispatched, it was not a trivial matter. ¡°The Qianyuan Battle is ahead of schedule,¡± Xie Ke saw Fu Zhiyu get serious, and the expression on his face softened. ¡°At least two years ahead of schedule.¡± Fu Zhiyu clearly remembered the Qianyuan Battle. This was a big battle that made the capital unstable in his lifetime. This was a battle with the grassland barbarians. The original king of the barbarians, King Beiliang, was old and unwilling to toss and turn. During his reign, he perfectly abided by the previous peace treaty, and there had never been any disputes with other countries. However, after the death of King Beiliang, his son Xidan inherited the throne and became the new chief of the barbarians. This one was not as easy to talk to as his father. Soon after he took the throne, he quickly sent troops to attack Chen, the country that bordered the grasslands. In addition to Jilin, the combined land area of the other two countries of the Central Plains, Chen and Jing, was not even one-tenth the size of Jilin. These two countries had voluntarily surrendered a long time ago, and in recent decades they had completely become vassal states. Chen was unable to resist the grassland iron cavalry at all, so they immediately sent a letter to Emperor Qingyuan for help. Emperor Qingyuan was naturally ready to send troops, but before he could make a good plan, news came from the front line that the barbarian cavalry had set foot into his own territory. This made Emperor Qingyuan furious, and he immediately dispatched his confidant, General Zhongyong Xie Lin, to fight against them. Xie Ke went with him as his second-in-command with the strict orders that they could either win or die. The war lasted for more than a year, with heavy losses on both sides, and finally ended with a narrow victory of Jilin. It was worth noting that Xie Lin was seriously injured in this war. Therefore, in the final decisive battle, the young general Xie Ke was ordered to take full command. Originally, his side¡¯s advantage was not large, but in the end, he really turned the defeat into a victory. After Xie Ke returned to the capital, he was greeted by people, and because Xie Lin¡¯s health was really failing, Xie Ke took over all the troops of the Xie family with the approval of the emperor, and became a young general with real power. But all this should have happened within two years. ¡°King Beiliang died early,¡± Xie Ke continued, ¡°Everything is ahead of schedule, and there are even more things to come.¡± ¡°What¡­ more things?¡± ¡°The cavalry general has come with the news in the past few days that there are some changes in the ancient countries of the West, begging to prepare and asking the court for forage.¡± That was not all; Xie Ke didn¡¯t stop here. ¡±General Lin¡¯s subordinates handed over a memorial, reporting that there was a large group of rioters in Lincheng, and requested to raise troops to fight against them, asking the court for forage as well.¡± In this era, the means of communication were limited, the speed was extremely slow, and it was easy to distort and lose the original authenticity of the information. Anyway, Fu Zhiyu felt strange listening to these two things. Not only because it hadn¡¯t happened in the previous life or in the original book, but more importantly, because it was so coincidental for these things to happen at this point in time, as if done by an agreement. Xie Ke seemed to understand what he was thinking and explained: ¡°This is really not a coincidence, there is a reason. Emperor Qingyuan began to train the Eleventh and Thirteenth Princes, which made both the Lin and Xue families start to panic. The Lin family conspired with the tiger and chose to cooperate with the barbarians to help Prince Xidan kill his father and take the throne in advance, but they didn¡¯t expect that Xidan didn¡¯t play cards according to common sense. On the spot, he tore up the agreement with the Lin family and threatened to send the correspondence to Emperor Qingyuan if they didn¡¯t listen to him. The Lin family is now really afraid of the barbarians and dare not cooperate anymore. It is absolutely impossible for them to really leave the Central Plains territory and follow the barbarians. They can only stop where they are and make up something to try to cover their movements, intending to intercept the letter from Xidan if he really sends it to Emperor Qingyuan. If they can¡¯t intercept it, they will have to bite the bullet. Conspiring with the enemy is a treason. If the Lin family wins, well, history is written by the victors anyway, but now the barbarians are no longer a normal partner. The Lin family can¡¯t ride a tiger, so they can only stay put for the time being. As for the cavalry side, that was something that the Xue family did. It was the cavalry general who had an idea and hit it off with the Xue family. They were aware of the movements of the Lin family, and they wanted to follow suit. They were going to mobilise the troops in the name of suppressing the riot. They actually didn¡¯t plan to rebel so quickly, just wanted to put pressure on the emperor to make him dispel the idea of cultivating other heirs. The ancient kingdoms of the West were true to the spirit of the agreement, but no one expected the barbarians to smash the pot. The real war is coming, and the Xue family didn¡¯t expect all this. Advertisements Neither of them originally wanted to ruin Jilin, but they were forced by Emperor Qingyuan to use external forces to achieve their goals. Their plans could not keep up with the changes, though. Now both of them are in a very awkward situation. One pretends that nothing happened, and the other is still holding on, planning to slowly minimise the damage and let the country pass the crisis of the barbarians first. But I guess that even if the ancient countries of the West are more honest than the barbarians, they don¡¯t have such a good temper.¡± It was the first time in two lifetimes that Fu Zhiyu had heard Xie Ke say such a long passage to him. The amount of information in this passage was so huge and detailed that he was shocked and suppressed his dislike of Xie Ke for a while. It was as if Xie Ke was eavesdropping in the corner of the Lin and Xue residences every day. Xie Ke looked at his shocked expression and his widened eyes, and felt that Zhiyu was extremely cute. He tried his best to suppress his urge to touch Fu Zhiyu¡¯s hand, and continued to talk about business: ¡°Don¡¯t be surprised, it¡¯s all true. I have my own way of learning things. The emperor doesn¡¯t know as much as I do. He just has some suspicions now. Apart from the barbarian anomalies, he is suspicious of the two families. But many things are still uncertain, and even the Lin and Xue families involved are not very clear about the whole situation now. Zhiyu, I¡¯m telling you this because I want you to be more vigilant. The situation is changing so quickly that it cannot be explained by the experiences of your previous life. You must be more careful.¡± Fu Zhiyu took a step back, was silent for a while, and then said, ¡°You¡¯ve been watching the Xue and Lin families so carefully. I¡¯m afraid you¡¯ve been watching me like this as well, right?¡± ¡°No, really not,¡± Xie Ke immediately denied, his face serious, ¡°I¡­ my method can¡¯t be used on you, really.¡± As he said this, he subconsciously moved forward a little bit, but Fu Zhiyu took a big step back, as if he had seen a snake or a scorpion, with a wary expression on his face. ¡°I was wrong, I was wrong, really wrong, okay?¡± Xie Ke exclaimed bitterly, ¡°I¡¯m really not going to touch you anymore, don¡¯t go yet. I haven¡¯t talked to you like this for a long time, and I finally got such an opportunity. I still have some things to say.¡± Fu Zhiyu hesitated and didn¡¯t leave for the time being, but still kept his distance from Xie Ke. Xie Ke breathed a sigh of relief, and softened his tone again: ¡°Things happened so fast, I didn¡¯t have time to react either. Zhiyu, if I really have to leave for a while, can you come and see me off? Three days later, at Aiwan Pavilion in the suburbs, it doesn¡¯t matter if you don¡¯t want to talk to me, I just need to see you. The situation is very complicated this time, in case I really can¡¯t come back¡­¡± Fu Zhiyu lowered his head, and Xie Ke waited patiently for him to answer. Unexpectedly, Fu Zhiyu suddenly turned around and ran away. Before escaping, he dropped a sentence: ¡°You¡¯re trying to deceive me again, I won¡¯t come.¡± Xie Ke didn¡¯t go after him, standing helplessly in place, watching the carriage leave quickly. He was trapped in the dark, laughing bitterly and saying in a voice that only he could hear: ¡°It¡¯s been like this several times. It seems that I only make Zhiyu be more wary of me¡­ 027, am I really not good at courting people?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± 027¡¯s mechanical voice sounded in his mind, commenting, ¡°The beginning was okay, Fu Zhiyu listened very seriously, but the last part completely collapsed, a mess.¡± 027 was silent for a while, and said, ¡°Maybe the shadow caused by the previous life is too heavy¡­¡± It quickly detected that Xie Ke was in the wrong state after hearing this sentence; his emotions fluctuating wildly. 027 immediately cleverly changed its perspective and put forward a positive suggestion: ¡°By the way, I just searched all the knowledge bases for the keywords on courting people and found that the most popular way is to give gifts. You can try it.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not that I haven¡¯t given them¡­¡± Xie Ke sighed, and then began to explore the reason for the failure, ¡°Maybe because the gifts were too ordinary?¡± Thinking of this, he muttered to himself again: ¡°By the way, I do have something for him. If I really have to leave for a while, Zhiyu must be fine. Nothing can happen to him here.¡± ¡°The props you have saved are almost useless to Fu Zhiyu,¡± the mechanical voice reminded him, ¡°I have mentioned many times that he is a very, very special data. I have tried many methods on him after the hibernation was over, but there is no way to have the slightest impact on him. All the data coming back from him is disordered, but Shen Yang, another person who came back, has no abnormalities. As long as Yuan Mingdao does not stay with Fu Zhiyu, he is very normal too. But when he comes into contact with Fu Zhiyu, the data will be disordered immediately.¡± Xie Ke also knew this. He could only use the most primitive manpower to protect Zhiyu now, but the palace was different from the outside. It was much more heavily guarded. Zhiyu almost always stayed in the palace and didn¡¯t go out. He was also very sharp, and Xie Ke didn¡¯t dare to act rashly. ¡°Why doesn¡¯t he want to believe that I¡¯m sincere?¡± Xie Ke was distressed, ¡°I don¡¯t know what to do about him.¡± Advertisements Fu Zhiyu ran back into the carriage in a hurry, and Yuan Mingdao saw that his face was sullen and silent when he returned, so it was better not to disturb him. He waited until Fu Zhiyu¡¯s mood had calmed down before asking tentatively, ¡°Is Master alright?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± Fu Zhiyu nodded, ¡°Just¡­ a little frightened.¡± After this place became a free world, the plot was like a wild horse that couldn¡¯t be stopped. He didn¡¯t know what exactly the Lord God¡¯s definition of ¡°Don¡¯t let the world collapse¡± included. If it was just the compression of the plot, it shouldn¡¯t be too serious¡­ right? Xie Ke was going to win. It was impossible for him not to come back, but it was possible to come back many days in advance. His words just now gave Fu Zhiyu a real understanding of how incredible the top-three actor was. Without the constraints of the plot, he was more successful than the protagonist. The Lord God also complained to him back then, saying that these people were particularly difficult to manage. The system had the basic function of protecting the actor from pain. He also didn¡¯t need to go through every day meticulously; there was an option for the actor to pull the progress bar. For the actors at the top of the pyramid like Xie Ke, the whole world of the Lord God was one interesting adventure game, and if the points were high enough, the protagonist they played didn¡¯t have even a tenth of their own power. Had the Lord God not come out with a patch to limit props later on, those actors at the top of the pyramid could have destroyed the entire Lord God¡¯s world. That was why Fu Zhiyu felt frightened. He calmed down a little bit, and then briefly talked to Yuan Mingdao about what Xie Ke had just said. ¡°I have to send a pigeon to let my uncle know. Although the place of the elder uncle has not been affected, he is a general of the imperial court, after all. The younger uncle, he should stay in the south peacefully and stop going out with caravans,¡± Fu Zhiyu thought for a while, and then hesitated, ¡°As for us¡­¡± Yuan Mingdao also wondered in his heart how Xie Ke could know all this, but he looked at the expression of his master and felt that his master was a bit unsettled. ¡°Is the Master worried about the war?¡± He tried to reassure Fu Zhiyu, ¡°None of these things happened because we wanted them to, nor did we provoke them. Those under heaven are fighting for profit, and as long as people are fighting, these things will happen sooner or later.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not worried about that,¡± Fu Zhiyu took a deep breath, ¡°Forget it, let¡¯s go back first. We can¡¯t believe everything Xie Ke said. We¡¯ll see later.¡± He still remembered Xie Ke¡¯s sentence, ¡°My method can¡¯t be used on you¡±. If it could be used, Xie Ke would likely know more than that. Fu Zhiyu also knew very well that he was a bug that could not even be deleted by the Lord God, and now he was mutating again. Nothing was impossible. It was an unexpected pleasant surprise that Xie Ke¡¯s supernatural powers didn¡¯t work on him. The emperor was also really wary. Fu Zhiyu heard the noise outside at noon the next day. It was the sound of a group of people running neatly. He didn¡¯t even need to go out to hear Caimei, the little gossip, fuss again. ¡°There are so many soldiers coming!¡± She said in shock, ¡°They¡¯re all over the palace. When you go out to get something, you have to meet five or six groups of them, waiting in strict formation, so fierce. I heard that it¡¯s the same outside, the entire capital is under martial law. It¡¯s scary, I don¡¯t know who committed the crime.¡± ¡°You can¡¯t say that openly,¡± Fu Zhiyu put down the teacup in his hand and glanced at her, ¡°I¡¯m afraid it¡¯s a big deal.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Master, I have a sense of proportion.¡± Consort Yun was calm, sitting aside and embroidering. Fu Zhiyu talked to her in the morning. Consort Yun had no memory of the previous life, and she was much calmer than Fu Zhiyu. It took another two days before the emperor issued a decree explaining all this dissension to the people. The barbarians attacked, and General Zhongyong and his son Xie Ke were to immediately go to war to meet the enemy, leading an army of 800,000, hoping to continue their undefeated record and strengthen the prestige of Jilin. Commander-in-Chief Lu and Commander Du led their troops to guard the capital, protect the heart of Jilin, and preserve the law and discipline of the imperial court. If any rebels or traitors disturbed the army, they would be executed. The Lu family and the Du family, just like Lu Linhai and Du Yin who followed Xie Ke, were both from the same faction of General Xie and were both confidants of the emperor. Now that all those people moved, the emperor was really angry. Fu Qingyan had been walking step by step along his way and accumulated a lot of power. Even though he was not a paper tiger, he still couldn¡¯t touch the deep-rooted Lin and Xue families for the time being. But it was not that easy for these families to deal with him either. The decree stated that Xie Ke would set off early tomorrow morning. Fu Zhiyu still remembered that Xie Ke asked him to see him off, but he decided that he wouldn¡¯t go, just as he said. In his previous life, he had gone there, just in time to run into the famous scene in the book. Miss Xue risked her life to come and say a tearful goodbye to Xie Ke. Later, Xie Ke returned triumphantly, and Miss Xue got what she wanted and was given a marriage by the emperor. The two were really a divine couple, and the extra person like him was simply inexplicable. Obviously, Xie Ke was only to set off the next morning and knew that the hope was negligible, but he still had waited at the appointed place the whole night before. ¡°As long as he really comes, even if it¡¯s not to see me, but to learn more about the news over there, I¡¯ll get what I want.¡± He sat alone in Aiwan Pavilion, sounding like he was talking to himself, ¡°As long as he comes, as long as he comes, I won¡¯t leave even if it kills me. The Qianyuan Battle is nothing, what I can get from this war I can get from other places.¡± He looked in the direction of the capital, and then murmured: ¡°As long as he gives me a chance, even just a little bit¡­¡± The 027 system that woke up from hibernation last month listened to all this silently without saying a word. As an auxiliary machine, it had a hard time understanding human feelings, and it was even more difficult for it to understand why its host, who was originally using this world as his playground, was now so desperate. But there was actually some foreshadowing long before, it was just that the host was so used to being confident at that time that he thought he couldn¡¯t be wrong. He didn¡¯t expect that an accident would really happen. Now, most of Xie Ke¡¯s methods were useless for Fu Zhiyu¡¯s abnormal data, but Fu Zhiyu was still limited by this world and subject to the powers of the world. Xie Ke didn¡¯t want to leave the capital. At least here he was a little closer to his baby, but with his current status, Fu Zhiyu could refuse to see him if he wanted to. As long as he stayed in Liuli Palace and didn¡¯t come out, Xie Ke couldn¡¯t enter. Xie Ke had the power to break in violently; especially after his system woke up from hibernation and he had more props at his disposal. However, compared to Fu Zhiyu, Xie Ke was even more afraid that the world would collapse and Fu Zhiyu would disappear with the world. So at present he was still carefully maintaining the operating logic of the world and didn¡¯t dare to be too presumptuous. As Xie Ke said: ¡°Zhiyu can not care about these things, but I can¡¯t. I have to rely on my power to protect him. Otherwise, what if someone really bullies him?¡± But 027 wondered whether returning with such and such powers in this world would be good or bad for his relationship with Fu Zhiyu. ¡­Isn¡¯t it you who obviously upsets him the most? The so-called power was not the main problem between the two of them, the 027 system thought. It was also a good thing to leave. This opportunity could be used to teach Xie Ke to calm down and correct his problems, as well as make him realise that his current method of asking for forgiveness could only be counterproductive. CH 40 Xie Ke waited from late at night until dawn, until his heart was cold, and didn¡¯t wait for the person he wanted to see. When the sky started to brighten, a carriage drove over from the city gate. Xie Ke¡¯s eyes lit up first, but when it got closer, his expression immediately changed. This is not an imperial carriage, it was much smaller than the one commonly used by Fu Zhiyu, and there was a veil draped on the top of the carriage, making it look like it belonged to a lady from a noble family. Sure enough, after the carriage stopped, a woman ran out of it. When she saw Xie Ke standing there, she froze for a moment, then a smile appeared on her face, she lifted her skirt, and ran over quickly. Why was it her? That was Xue Rouping, the young lady of the Xue family, the female lead in the original book. When Xie Ke came back this time, he didn¡¯t want to think of the memories that made Zhiyu suffer. He thought that everything was different now; but Miss Xue was still walking along the plot line conscientiously. Even if it was Zhiyu he rescued in the ice lake, Miss Xue still found the opportunity to fall in love with Xie Ke, and she was even quite courageous doing so. But Xie Ke¡¯s rejection was also obvious. He was almost afraid of her, thinking that if Zhiyu came over now, it might remind him of something he shouldn¡¯t remember, and make him hate him even more. He immediately took a big step back as if avoiding a snake or a scorpion, then raised his hand and made a movement. A masked man immediately tumbled down from the tree behind him. ¡°Shadow Seven, take her away and send her back to the city immediately,¡± Xie Ke didn¡¯t listen to a word Miss Xue said. No matter how travel-worn she was, he was as alert as if there was a fire-breathing dragon in front of him, ¡°How does Lu Linhai guard the city gate? Isn¡¯t there martial law? How could a woman get out so easily?¡± As a result, before the brave Miss Xue could express any of her intentions, she was quickly stuffed back into the carriage by Xie Ke¡¯s secret guard. Only when Xie Ke saw the carriage being driven away did his whole body relax. ¡°If 061 and the others saw such a scene, they would laugh at you to death,¡± his system couldn¡¯t help but speak out at this time, ¡°You look like you¡¯re facing an enemy. You were not so nervous even when you were a newbie, almost failed the mission and were about to be wiped out, right?¡± Xie Ke looked up at the sky and sighed. He knew that Fu Zhiyu would not come. ¡°Because I haven¡¯t fallen in love with someone at that time,¡± He sat down and said slowly. ¡°I scoffed at this kind of thing, thinking I would never be like this. Now as long as there is a little thing about him, I feel nervous.¡± ¡°So¡­¡± He raised his hand and rubbed his eyes that were dry from waiting, but then smiled and said, ¡°027, maybe you will understand this feeling when you have the opportunity in the future. I don¡¯t know how to describe this mood to you completely. But you see, I waited here all night and he didn¡¯t come, yet every moment of expectation made me feel happy.¡± The system originally wanted to say that it would never understand and it was not programmed to do so. But Xie Ke, the actor who had the reputation of being colder than a machine, had been softened by someone, so almost anything in this world could happen. Advertisements As soon as Xie Ke finished speaking, the system saw Xie Ke¡¯s right hand shake visibly. He raised his hand and looked at it. A red light suddenly lit up and then wrapped around Xie Ke¡¯s wrist, leaving a shallow red mark. ¡°You used this? When?¡± The system was surprised, ¡°Didn¡¯t you only collect two red magic boxes?¡± Xie Ke stroked the red mark on his wrist with a smile on his face and said, ¡°Before I came here, I paid some price to exchange it with others.¡± ¡°Did you use it on Fu Zhiyu?¡± ¡°What else?¡± ¡°There is no data disorder?¡± The system was puzzled, ¡°This thing would logically not work on him either.¡± Xie Ke tried it on the spot and said, ¡°Well, it probably doesn¡¯t work, there is no response now. But if it works a little bit in an emergency, it was worth exchanging it. I can¡¯t let anything happen to Zhiyu again.¡± The system was silent for a while, then calmly commented: ¡°You are wasting it.¡± But Xie Ke didn¡¯t think so. He raised his head in a happy mood and looked in the direction of the capital. Others could only see some vague buildings, but he saw a clear goal. ¡°It seems that Zhiyu got up a lot earlier today than usual,¡± Xie Ke said to himself, ¡°Is he worried about something again?¡± Indeed, Fu Zhiyu got up earlier than usual today. He had lived carefree since he was reborn and made a point of sleeping until he woke up naturally almost every day. Today was an exception. He was disturbed by his thoughts and didn¡¯t sleep well. Xie Ke left another box on his bed last night, a bloodstone box that was exactly the same as the first two. He was really cunning. Every time he left the box, he picked the right time. The first time, Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t know who had left it, so he opened it curiously; the second time, he already knew it was Xie Ke, but he had doubts about whether his mother was noticed when she left the palace, so he opened it again; the third time was this sensitive period. Fu Zhiyu was worried about whether there was really any important information about the situation in it, and if he completely ignored it, he would feel a little uneasy. The bloodstone box was so thick that he couldn¡¯t see what was inside. Fu Zhiyu picked it up and shook it, feeling that it didn¡¯t seem to be a note inside. He sat on the bed in silence for a long time, but his hands were true to his instincts. His thumbs moved slowly, and he easily opened a slit in the box. Inside was¡­ a ring? In addition to the ring, there was also a note, as it should be. The note said: This is the last box, there are no more. The ring is a gift for the baby ^_^, I¡¯ll come back soon. That¡¯s right, Xie Ke really drew a ¡°^_^¡± expression at the end. He might have had some brain disease, trying to be cute here. Fu Zhiyu: ¡°¡­Curiosity killed the cat. Sure enough, everything related to Xie Ke was out of this world. The box shouldn¡¯t be opened, ah.¡± He decisively threw the box with the rest of them. He didn¡¯t take a closer look at the ring and threw it in together. Advertisements The relieved Fu Zhiyu fell asleep, just wanting to quickly erase this memory, while Xie Ke outside the city had waited for the departure of the army. ¡°That person came?¡± Xie Lin rode a bay horse and looked down at Xie Ke, who seemed to be in a good mood, ¡°I haven¡¯t seen you smiling like this recently.¡± ¡°No,¡± Xie Ke said calmly, ¡°still angry with me. Still hates me now and refuses to believe anything. How could it be possible to come to see me off?¡± But when he said this, there was no trace of unhappiness in his tone, as if he was remembering that person in his heart, his eyes full of doting. Xie Lin didn¡¯t know what to say about his son. Xie Ke hadn¡¯t been by his side when he was young. When he came back, he was already like a little adult. Now that he had grown up, Xie Lin didn¡¯t dare to play the father¡¯s card in front of Xie Ke and he didn¡¯t think it was strange that the two of them were now on an equal footing. ¡°I wonder whose girl it is? The other day he even took the ¡®Shadow¡¯ ring away, he is willing to hand over anything, it¡¯s really¡­¡± Xie Lin muttered, and then said with emotion, ¡°Who is the strange person who can treat Xie Ke like this?¡± At this time, Xie Ke had already mounted his horse, and the army was about to leave. He glanced back in the direction of the capital, and then embarked on the journey. After Xie Ke left the capital, Fu Zhiyu was much more relaxed. The Lu family and the Du family guarded the capital, and it was indeed quite peaceful on the surface. As for the undercurrents surging inside, what did it matter to him? It was selfish, but he was the only one who could take care of himself. He hadn¡¯t started those things and it was not his turn to end them. There was a war ahead, and the capital tensed a bit; even the food and clothing in the palace became a lot simpler. As for the residence that was repaired, Fu Zhiyu also ordered to keep everything simple. According to the development rate of the plot, he probably wouldn¡¯t be able to live there for long, and it was better to keep a low profile now. But he soon found a new joy in his domestic life. A melon seedling grew in the yard. He didn¡¯t know when someone ate the melon and left the seed there. It was next to the pavilion, growing bigger and bigger. When Fu Zhiyu found it, there were already a few small melons under its leaves, round and lovely to the touch. He went to touch them when he had nothing better to do. He remembered that he had been lazily eating melons here some time ago, so he must have planted it himself. Seeing him like this, Caimei thought that her master had become interested in flowers and plants, and brought a few pots of precious orchids. But Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t even look at them, waved his hand and told her to move them aside. He felt that the melons he planted were beautiful, with large leaves and thick roots. Perhaps because Fu Zhiyu often went to see it, it grew rapidly, and after a few months, it occupied a large area under the pavilion. The melons were also bigger, but when Fu Zhiyu picked one and tasted it, it was not tasty. The capital was not a suitable environment to grow melons. Even though the fruits were so big, they were useless. He stopped picking them, letting them fall and rot naturally and then grow new seedlings. In late autumn, these melon seedlings had already been raised into a garden overlord by Fu Zhiyu, looking like a dense mass of large green leaves. Melons were unpalatable, flashy but impractical. They grew so much because the master liked them, giving the illusion of a bountiful farmland, a living flattering essence. But who cared, it was the master¡¯s business. Last time Emperor Qingyuan took a look at the garden, he laughed for a long time, saying that he hadn¡¯t seen such an idyllic scenery for a long time and that it was very nice. Recently, Emperor Qingyuan had been in a very good mood. Good news was coming frequently. The Xie family had won many victories, especially Xie Ke, whom the emperor admired. Their marching speed was abnormal. His troops had never been defeated. Gradually, his reputation also increased. The people praised him for using the troops like a god, even more so than Xie Lin. Emperor Qingyuan really didn¡¯t expect the Xie family to be so brave after not fighting for many years, and Xie Ke, who went to the battlefield for the first time, was not like an amateur at all. The Lin family and the Xue family had been quiet like little chickens recently. The so-called changes in the West and domestic rebellions had all been resolved quickly, and now it was peaceful. How could Emperor Qingyuan be unhappy? At this time, Jilin not only resolved its own border crisis, but also drove the barbarians out of Chen¡¯s territory. The Xie family had sent a report on the battle, asking if they should take advantage of the victory and pursue the barbarians so that they would not dare to come again. Of course, Emperor Qingyuan approved, and a big banquet was held today. As Wang Zhao, Fu Zhiyu was naturally going to be there. The one who came back to report the news was also a commander from the Xie family¡¯s army, surnamed Song. The emperor was very happy to let him sit at the top of the table, but Fu Zhiyu always felt that this man seemed to be looking at him, intentionally or unintentionally. He frowned and turned away. Soon after that banquet, Fu Zhiyu¡¯s residence was ready. He picked an auspicious day and finally moved out of Liuli Palace with Mingdao. However, with the approval of Emperor Qingyuan, he was allowed to come to the palace to visit Consort Yun from time to time. Fu Zhiyu still didn¡¯t forget to move one of the melon vines in the garden of Liuli Palace to his new home, but it was early winter now, and the weather was quite cold. Even though Fu Zhiyu took care of it every day, it was still a bit wonky. ¡°It won¡¯t grow until the spring,¡± the steward of the residence, surnamed Zhou, was a kind old man with a strong ability to observe words and expressions. ¡°If Wang Zhao likes these things, there are some newborn small livestock in the countryside, with more vitality than these melons, and they are easy to feed. How many does Wang Zhao want me to bring?¡± When he saw Fu Zhiyu nod, he brought in a litter the same evening. He called it livestock, but chickens, ducks, geese and the like were noisy and smelled bad. After all, this was a residence of a member of the imperial family, not a farm. Steward Zhou picked and brought a few little rabbits. His daughter-in-law¡¯s cat also gave birth to a litter of kittens, and Steward Zhou took a tabby one, saying that it was the most obedient and clingy. He also brought a two-month-old wolfdog back from the country. This one was not for Fu Zhiyu to play with. It was reserved to be raised to guard the residence. Steward Zhou was experienced, and a loyal dog was sometimes more useful than ten people. Fu Zhiyu was petting the furry creatures for a few days, but the rabbits ignored him, eating vegetables boringly. The tabby cat, Ah Tang, was really well-behaved and clingy, but who knows what she was eating all day. Her body shape was changing quickly. She was originally such a small one, but increased in size after coming to the residence; however, she was very very warm to hold in winter. In comparison, Fu Zhiyu liked the wolfdog brought by the steward the most. Because the dog was hairy, Fu Zhiyu calls him Rongrong (Fluffy). Although Rongrong was round and cute when he first arrived at the residence, this chubby dog had cold eyes, arrogant expression, and was well-trained. Rongrong seemed to like Fu Zhiyu¡¯s smell very much, but because of the pride of a wolfdog, he was reserved when he rubbed against Fu Zhiyu. After rubbing a few times, he would take a proud step back and leave with particular self-control. He looked fierce but was very affectionate. Yuan Mingdao also likes the dog. Recently, in addition to practising martial arts, he would go to play with Rongrong. Whe the kitchen made bone stew, he had to take the best big bone to Rongrong. The days were lived leisurely like this. In a blink of an eye, it was the snowy winter again. Fu Zhiyu celebrated his eighteenth birthday. He went to see his mother that day. After coming out of the palace, he went to the Yuan residence again. The two elders seemed very happy and gave him two bags of gold ingots. Both of them knew that he was not short of money, it was just a ritual to mark the occasion. ¡°The war is almost over,¡± Old Master Yuan sighed, sitting at the table, ¡°I heard the news from the outside, saying that it is about to be a triumphant victory in the spring, right? It¡¯s good to finish the war quickly. If the world is chaotic, the people will suffer.¡± Fu Zhiyu also nodded. At this time in his previous life, the war hadn¡¯t started yet, but now it was over. He was afraid that the trajectory of many people¡¯s lives would undergo earth-shaking changes. ¡°Then the Xie family will come back too,¡± Old Master Yuan continued. Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t answer, just lowered his head and said ¡°en¡± absent-mindedly. CH 41 After the harsh winter, spring was here again. Yuan Mingdao was growing quickly. He got taller, and it was time to make him new clothes. The rabbits in the residence were still crunching the leaves stupidly, and Ah Tang got even fatter. Rongrong was also much larger. He had lost some of his chubby appearance and showed his sturdy stature. The melon vine in the courtyard finally came back to life from its apathy and began to grow leaves and flowers, producing melons that were not tasty at all. If this was some place far from the capital, and if his mother also was there, this kind of life could be called perfect. Fu Zhiyu often went to the palace to accompany Consort Yun. He would cross the market when going there, seeing a lot more things than when he lived in Liuli Palace. The Crown Prince Fu Lingxiao and the Xue family both calmed down; even if they met Fu Zhiyu in the palace, they hurriedly walked by. On the contrary, after Fu Yanran started to rise, he occasionally sent some things to Liuli Palace, probably just expressing a gesture of goodwill. Compared to him, Consort Yue and Fu Yanxi seemed to be more enthusiastic, saying that they wanted to discuss qin, chess, calligraphy and painting. But after all, the Eleventh Prince was trained as a reserve; Consort Yun didn¡¯t want to know whether they were sincere or not, and she didn¡¯t want to get involved in such things. She treated them as politely and coldly as other consorts. But when Fu Zhiyu met Fu Yanxi, he also felt that the Eleventh Prince was much more well-mannered now, unlike at the dinner party when he had taken Fu Zhiyu¡¯s hand and just said those things directly. Perhaps the enthusiasm in Fu Yanxi¡¯s heart had not diminished, but he had learned to hide some things from being discovered by others. Of course, there were also changes outside the palace. Some people were sending Wang Zhao letters and invitations, most of them underappreciated scholars or some officials who wanted to make friends. Fu Zhiyu refused all of them, but there was a special one ¨C Shen Yang. His performance in the fraud case made Fu Zhiyu wonder if he was also reborn, otherwise he wouldn¡¯t have known everything so well. But regardless of whether he was reborn or not, Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t want to intersect with him, and Shen Yang¡¯s status was different now. He had become a third-rank official in the Ministry of Justice. He had also met the current head of the Ministry of Justice, Lord Zeng, who was about to retire. Shen Yang was a popular candidate to succeed, and Fu Zhiyu heard that the emperor also liked him. Fu Zhiyu was an idle prince, and he didn¡¯t want to have any communication with the newest dignitary of the dynasty, lest others suspected that he had any agenda to grab the power. Shen Yang was not as skilled as Xie Ke, the actor, and Fu Zhiyu had no difficulty dealing with him. If he didn¡¯t want to see him, he could avoid seeing him. Today, the news in the market was a bit messy. Advertisements The storyteller was talking about the recent war, saying that the Xie family¡¯s army had advanced all the way to the barbarian capital a few days ago, and King Xidan surrendered on the spot, signed a letter of surrender, and ceded his land to make reparations. Jilin¡¯s battles went too smoothly. The barbarian iron cavalry was a renowned magic weapon. Even though the former King Beiliang was peaceful, there were some minor frictions between the countries. The barbarian iron cavalry was notoriously difficult to fight. Although Xie Lin had the reputation of being undefeated, even Emperor Qingyuan didn¡¯t really dare to guarantee anything, and the final victory result was really unexpected. The storyteller was very enthusiastic when telling the story to the crowd; especially when it came to Xie Ke¡¯s part, his tone was excited, his words were beautiful and he was so happy that he used his hands and feet to gesticulate. This scene was not like storytelling anymore, it was like acting in a play. But the people liked it, throwing copper coins and applauding. It was very lively. Fu Zhiyu had heard enough about Xie Ke and left early. But when he was sleeping, he keenly felt that there seemed to be some movement. Mingdao had long since stopped sharing a room with him and had a courtyard of his own. Fu Zhiyu originally didn¡¯t like to have someone waiting by his bed when he slept. This wasn¡¯t the imperial palace and the security wasn¡¯t that strict. Besides, Xie Ke wasn¡¯t in the capital, and with Fu Zhiyu¡¯s current strength and sensitivity, he didn¡¯t feel he would encounter any danger. ¡°¡­who?¡± He felt the man approaching; Fu Zhiyu sat up, lifted the bed curtain and looked at him. ¡°It¡¯s me,¡± the visitor walked up slowly and stopped a step away from Fu Zhiyu, his voice hoarse, ¡°Zhiyu, don¡¯t call anyone, I beg you, I won¡¯t touch you, really. I haven¡¯t seen you for a long time, I just want to take a look and leave.¡± In fact, Fu Zhiyu already knew it was him when he heard the footsteps. Xie Ke came back much earlier than he thought. The barbarian capital was not far from here but it was impossible for the army to come back so soon. Did Xie Ke rush back alone? It was just before dawn, and the sky outside was getting lighter. Xie Ke came in through the window. In the light that seeped in, Fu Zhiyu could see him clearly. He was wearing a military uniform and armour on his chest. His helmet must have just been taken off. His hair was wet and scattered. Xie Ke was still panting, as if he had just come down from the horse. His whole body looked messy, but his eyes were bright when he looked at Fu Zhiyu. Yesterday, the storyteller on the street praised Xie Ke over and over again. Saying that Xie Ke was as wise as a god, he won a round of applause. He also said that Xie Ke¡¯s sword eyebrows and star-like eyes were incredibly handsome, and earned a pile of copper coins from the audience. The more he talked about it, the more outrageous the descriptions became, and he almost said that Xie Ke was the North Star descending down to the earth. It seemed the legendary North Star was surprised because Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t kick him out immediately, which apparently caused him more emotional turmoil than defeating the barbarians had. Fu Zhiyu watched him half-kneeling on the edge of his bed. Xie Ke abided by what he had just said and really didn¡¯t reach out to touch him but just grabbed the edge of the bed and clenched his fingers on the bed sheet. In this way, Fu Zhiyu could look down at him. Seeing that Fu Zhiyu hadn¡¯t made a sound to drive him away, Xie Ke was happy again and carefully searched for a topic: ¡°These days, Zhiyu, how are you doing?¡± Fu Zhiyu thought for a while and replied, ¡°Pretty good.¡± Only after he had moved out of the palace did Fu Zhiyu truly feel that this was the life he wanted. He was now in a very peaceful state of mind. Perhaps because he hadn¡¯t seen Xie Ke for too long, suddenly he didn¡¯t think of how scary this man was. ¡°How about you?¡± He even asked leisurely, ¡°Have you learned to leave me alone?¡± After Xie Ke had left last year, Fu Zhiyu was stopped once by Lu Linhai. ¡°The boss risks his life to go to the battlefield for the sake of Wang Zhao!¡± Lu Linhai mustered up the courage to say, ¡°He really likes His Highness Wang Zhao.¡± Fu Zhiyu glanced at him and replied, ¡°Really? So what? I hope that after Young General Xie returns from the battlefield and has power in his hands, he can clearly understand that the affairs of Wang Zhao have nothing to do with him and won¡¯t be blinded by the freshness of the moment, unable to distinguish what he really wants.¡± Lu Linhai was infuriated by his words and held back for a long time before shouting at his back: ¡°¡­You, you are ignoring the sincerity of his heart!¡± This sentence really made Fu Zhiyu laugh out loud. Although Lu Linhai didn¡¯t know everything, it was really funny to say that. Was Xie Ke sincere? Advertisements But at this moment, Xie Ke spoke, answering Fu Zhiyu¡¯s question. He looked up at him and stared into his eyes: ¡°¡­I haven¡¯t learned, Zhiyu, I will never learn to give up on you. But when I went out, I gained a lot. I met many couples who had been together all their lives. Do you remember the old shepherd couple in the grasslands? I asked them what kept them together for so long, and they thought about it for a long time, saying it was love, trust and respect.¡± Fu Zhiyu looked at him coldly and didn¡¯t answer. These three things didn¡¯t fit him and Xie Ke at all. He remembered the shepherd couple. In his previous life he had even gone to the battlefield for Xie Ke during the Qianyuan Battle. To be precise, he looked for opportunities to follow Xie Ke almost every time Xie Ke went to war, sometimes on the emperor¡¯s order and sometimes on his own initiative. During the Qianyuan Battle, he blocked an arrow for Xie Ke and then rolled down the hill in the chaos, and was saved by an old shepherd couple. At that time Fu Zhiyu saw them so loving, and he also hoped that he and Xie Ke would have such a future of being together and supporting each other. They had just started sleeping together a short while ago at that time, and it was probably the joy of sharing the bed that brought Fu Zhiyu a lot of unrealistic fantasies. ¡°Zhiyu,¡± Xie Ke greedily enjoyed the moment of mutual peace and then took the opportunity to start talking again, ¡°that was when I realised that I had fallen in love with you.¡± Fu Zhiyu seemed to have heard some big joke, and laughed in a low voice. But Xie Ke¡¯s expression didn¡¯t look like he was joking. He didn¡¯t think this sentence was funny, and his face was very serious. ¡°It¡¯s true, Zhiyu,¡± he said earnestly, ¡°If you had seen yourself at that time, you would have also fallen in love with yourself. Blocking the arrow was just one of many things. It was also at that time that I saw clearly that this Fu Zhiyu was such a Fu Zhiyu.¡± Fu Zhiyu, who came to the battlefield of the Qianyuan Battle, had imperial orders. One was to send forage, and the other was to supervise the army. Unfortunately, as soon as he arrived, he encountered a barbarian raid. Xie Ke took his silver spear and went into the battle. Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t hide either. He didn¡¯t have time to change out of his white and gold imperial robes. He lifted his sword and got onto his horse. In the melee, his face was stained with blood, and he was so confused that he didn¡¯t know whose blood it was. The battlefield was so chaotic that no one knew who was where, and the moment one joined it, even a revered prince could become a dead man under the sword in an instant. In fact, Xie Ke, who was familiar with the original work, didn¡¯t know that there would be that arrow. He only knew that his life wouldn¡¯t be in danger at that time. The battle wasn¡¯t described in detail in the original book, but it was mentioned that the protagonist suffered some injuries, not serious ones. No one knew about the arrow, but Fu Zhiyu blocked it. It even took Xie Ke a long time before he realised that Fu Zhiyu had blocked the arrow for him, but fortunately, the arrow didn¡¯t hit a vital point and just pierced his arm. ¡°Are you all right?¡± Fu Zhiyu gritted his teeth and pulled out the arrow, quickly tying a cloth on his arm to stop the bleeding. He was still holding his sword in his left hand. He was sweating in pain, but his eyes were full of concern for Xie Ke. ¡°I won¡¯t let anything happen to you,¡± Xie Ke heard him murmur, ¡°I will give up my life, but I won¡¯t let you suffer a little injury.¡± The words of love that His Highness the Ninth Prince learned from somewhere were corny and simple, but Xie Ke felt soft in his heart when he heard them. Zhiyu had always been like this, giving all his heart to the people he liked, not just talking about it. The raid wasn¡¯t large-scale, but the field was indeed chaotic. Fu Zhiyu not only blocked an arrow for him, but even rolled down the hill afterwards because he was protecting Xie Ke.The original book said that Xie Ke was injured in this incident, but because of being protected by Fu Zhiyu, there was nothing wrong with him at all. His Highness the Ninth Prince was true to his word. He said he wouldn¡¯t let him get hurt, and he really didn¡¯t let him get hurt. After Fu Zhiyu rolled down the hill, Xie Ke really couldn¡¯t follow the plot and leave him behind like this. He went after him and found Fu Zhiyu who was recovering in the shepherd¡¯s house. Those two days were indeed different. Xie Ke recklessly ignored the plot and followed his own heart completely. Fu Zhiyu was surprised by the gentle look he had never seen from Xie Ke before and became even more soft and cute, charming and begging to be pampered. Fu Zhiyu was never obedient when he took medicine. After half a sip, he would frown and say it was bitter. Then he would sit up from the bed and ask for a kiss, nibbling on Xie Ke¡¯s lips, his arms hooked around Xie Ke¡¯s neck. Xie Ke would feel his fingers scratching his back. His beautiful eyes were moist. He looked like a clingy kitten. Xie Ke was immersed in the tenderness of his lover. He didn¡¯t know what day it was until the system forcibly reminded him of the goals and plans he had. Everything was a temporary sham, a sweet illusion, and he had to leave it behind to finish his mission. But if the current Xie Ke was allowed to return to that time, no matter what power or reason, he would never be willing to leave such Fu Zhiyu. ¡°Zhiyu, I thought at that time that doing this was the best choice for you and me,¡± Xie Ke said word by word, ¡°I knew clearly from that time that I loved you, baby, and I loved you deeply. You may not believe it, but it is true.¡± CH 42 The same thing was very different in Fu Zhiyu¡¯s eyes. If he were there now, he would have never saved Xie Ke in the first place. Let¡¯s not mention the question of whether to protect his lover or not, Xie Ke was an actor. Only when Fu Zhiyu was in the Lord God¡¯s space did he learn that actors were different from the indigenous data like them. They had a protection system and one of the system¡¯s functions was very important: it was to block pain. Xie Ke wouldn¡¯t be hurt; the whole world had basically no sense of reality to him, it was like a game. Taking this into account, could he really take Fu Zhiyu¡¯s dedication at that time seriously? Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t believe anything Xie Ke said. Instead, he became angry because of the previous events, as if Xie Ke was reminding him how stupid he was at the time. ¡°Get out of here.¡± His face was cold as he spat out a few words stiffly. Then he turned his head away and didn¡¯t want to say a word to Xie Ke anymore. ¡°I won¡¯t get out, I won¡¯t leave, never leave again.¡± Xie Ke stretched out his hand, as if he wanted to touch his face, but seeing that Fu Zhiyu was still angry, he didn¡¯t dare. In the end, he just held the corner of his clothes, ¡°Zhiyu, I¡­¡± He seemed to want to say something, but there was more and more cold sweat on his forehead. Fu Zhiyu looked at his increasingly bloodless lips with some doubts in his heart. Did Xie Ke look weak? As if confirming Fu Zhiyu¡¯s thoughts, Xie Ke kept holding the corner of his clothes but his head got lower and lower, and then he fell down, lying on the floor. Yet his hand was still tightly clutching Fu Zhiyu¡¯s clothes, as if this was the only connection between them. Fu Zhiyu had been talking to Xie Ke but only now did he notice a faint smell of blood in the air. When Xie Ke fell down, Fu Zhiyu also discovered that there was a blood-soaked mark on his back that the armour could no longer hide. What was this, pity-fishing? Fu Zhiyu was wary and didn¡¯t touch Xie Ke, just pulled his clothes out of his grip. But Xie Ke did fall unconscious in front of his bed now. Fu Zhiyu couldn¡¯t wake him up, and he didn¡¯t want Xie Ke to stay here. He got out of bed and took out a box from the shelf next to the bed with a ring in it. He took out the ring and put it on his finger, then walked to the window, thought for a while, and made a special beckoning gesture. After waiting for a while, Fu Zhiyu saw a flash in front of his eyes. A man in dark clothes with a mask on his face appeared in front of the window. He saluted Fu Zhiyu and said, ¡°Please give your orders.¡± Advertisements Fu Zhiyu pointed to the man next to the bed and said, ¡°Take your master away and don¡¯t let him come here again.¡± By the way, he took off the ring from his hand and stuffed it into Xie Ke¡¯s clothes indifferently. The man in black was taken aback when he heard the orders. After he saw Xie Ke, he was even more surprised. It seemed that he didn¡¯t expect Xie Ke to be here. He moved carefully but Xie Ke seemed to have really fainted. After being picked up by the man, he didn¡¯t even groan and was quickly taken away. The air was still filled with a faint smell of blood. That ring was the one Xie Ke had put in the red bloodstone box before he left. Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t care at first. When he moved to the residence, he naturally couldn¡¯t leave this kind of thing in the palace, so he took it away together with the boxes. Only then did he realise that the ring wasn¡¯t ordinary. To be precise, it was an ornamental thumb ring, made of the imperial green jade. Of course, in addition to its own value, it had a more important symbolic meaning. It was the symbol of the owner of the ¡°Shadow¡±, a gift from Xie Lin to Xie Ke. A team of carefully cultivated assassins, small in number, was Xie Ke¡¯s guard, which was also very important in the original text. Fu Zhiyu had read the original text, and even without Xie Ke¡¯s note, he remembered how to use the ring. He didn¡¯t plan to keep Xie Ke¡¯s things. He had deliberately lost the ring a few times before, but it was brought back by the shadow guards and sent to the residence. It was boring to repeat this process, so he just returned it to Xie Ke now. The servants of the residence were, strictly speaking, not his own people. Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t intend to let them know too much. In the middle of the night, a bloody man wearing what looked like a general¡¯s armour appeared in his room; it was abnormal at first glance. There was no need to disturb Mingdao at this time either. Fu Zhiyu knew that the shadow guards were near to him, several of them. Since Xie Ke gave this thing to him, he had naturally explained the situation to them a long time ago. They also knew that Fu Zihiyu didn¡¯t like them and was very keen. They didn¡¯t dare to get too close, most of them staying outside the residence. Today was an exception. Whatever made Fu Zhiyu take the initiative to make a summoning gesture, a shadow guard surely had to appear. The presence of the shadow guards usually had little influence on him. He would grow melons and pet fluffy animals every day. When he had free time, he went outside to sit in a restaurant and listen to the words of different storytellers. There was nothing that couldn¡¯t be seen by others. The only thing that needed to be hidden was the medicine, but it was easy to do with a little care. They couldn¡¯t find anything from that far away, and everything was done by Dr. Chen, not in the residence. As expected by Fu Zhiyu, the medicine sold well in Jiangnan. It had only been auctioned off twice. Now it was completely off the market and sold to several families. Fu Zhiyu also limited the amount, providing very little for the external distribution. He felt the money earned was almost enough; he was not greedy in this area. The money was also temporarily kept in the bank of his younger uncle, waiting for them to get to Jiangnan. When Xie Ke was taken away by the shadow guard, it was almost dawn. With his ears pricked up, Rongrong came to Fu Zhiyu¡¯s room to make his usual solemn inspection. He sniffed the area in front of the bed several times, then became alert, barking so loudly that even Yuan Mingdao, who was eating breakfast, rushed over. ¡°What¡¯s the matter, what¡¯s the matter?¡± Yuan Mingdao forgot to put down the chopsticks, coming in in a hurry, ¡°Did something happen?¡± The smell of blood left by Xie Ke had almost dissipated. The human nose wasn¡¯t as sharp as the dog¡¯s nose, and it was impossible to smell it now. Advertisements Fu Zhiyu stretched out his hand to help Yuan Mingdao wipe off the remaining rice grains on his face, stroked Rongrong¡¯s head and said, ¡°It¡¯s nothing. Let¡¯s have breakfast, I¡¯m hungry too.¡± The army didn¡¯t return to the capital until ten days later. Xie Ke was naturally not with it. The people of the capital were ready to greet the young general but after searching for a long time, they didn¡¯t see him. The girls hid all the flowers they had prepared, making the face of the middle-aged general Xie Lin, who had returned with the victory, stiffen a bit. Later, there was news that Xie Ke was seriously injured in the last battle and his life was in danger. The rumours were so serious that it seemed that he would die in the next second. This was a bit of an overstatement, Fu Zhiyu thought, how could Xie Ke be so fragile? He didn¡¯t believe it, but most of the people did. Recently, the storytellers in the teahouses and restaurants stopped telling new stories and only focused on the news from the Xie family, saying that the Young General Xie¡¯s talent made Heaven jealous and unforgiving. The girls cried together, as if Xie Ke was their common husband. Fu Zhiyu felt bored. Xie Ke must have had something up his sleeve, deceiving people. But when he was going back to his residence, he was inexplicably stopped. This time it wasn¡¯t the reckless Lu Linhai, but Du Yin, who had a much calmer temperament. Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t expect him to do such a thing as blocking people on the street. Du Yin and Lu Linhai had both stepped down from their positions as imperial guards and had begun to take over some of their fathers¡¯ duties, and were now proper military generals. Fu Zhiyu looked at Du Yin and asked politely, ¡°What does Lord Du want?¡± ¡°Come with me, count me as begging you, go and see him, just take a look,¡± Du Yin said. He seemed to feel that this tone was a bit reckless, gritted his teeth, and his voice slowed down a little bit, ¡°Xie Ke¡­ he¡­ hasn¡¯t woken up for ten days.¡± ¡°You can go get a doctor, I¡¯m not a doctor,¡± Fu Zhiyu blinked innocently and said, ¡°I think Lord Du is in a hurry and has found the wrong person.¡± ¡°The whole Imperial Hospital is there! There is nothing they can do,¡± Du Yin became anxious, ¡°He is delirious and only calls your name, what can I do!¡± Fu Zhiyu¡¯s expression didn¡¯t change at all when he heard this. He wasn¡¯t going to go. Du Yin still had some presence of mind left and didn¡¯t do anything to take him away by force. ¡°¡­Why do you hate him so much?¡± Du Yin could only watch Fu Zhiyu leave in the end, saying faintly to his back, ¡°He went to the frontier for you, and fought desperately for you. In the last battle, he was so badly injured. After winning the battle, he came back from the barbarian capital all the way here, just to see you, never resting for a moment, and now he is dying. Why do you even not want to see him?¡± Lu Linhai and Du Yin saw too little and their perspective was different. It was natural that they said these things. Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t look back but replied coldly: ¡°For me? Did I ask him to do this? Did I get anything out of it? Self-righteous.¡± Du Yin opened his mouth but didn¡¯t say anything. He was never doing it for me, Fu Zhiyu thought. Xie Ke was very selfish. He could only do so much for himself. He wondered what game Xie Ke was playing now, pretending to be sick. The next day, Fu Zhiyu went to the palace to see Consort Yun as usual, just in time to meet Dr. Chen who came to routinely check her pulse. Consort Yun chatted with him, mentioning the Xie family. ¡°¡­The whole Imperial Hospital has been sent there and they can do nothing,¡± Consort Yun said. ¡°The emperor was angry, and Dr. Chen almost got beaten up. That Xie family is really a big deal.¡± Dr. Chen also echoed: ¡°The young General Xie is indeed seriously ill, with injuries all over his body. Especially his back, the flesh is rotting there. If he wasn¡¯t someone who practised martial arts and used to be in good health, he wouldn¡¯t last for such a long time. If it were someone else, I¡¯m afraid he would be dead in three days.¡± Fu Zhiyu frowned. When Dr. Chen looked at his expression, he knew that his master didn¡¯t want to hear this. After checking the pulse, he quickly withdrew. ¡°He is pretending,¡± Fu Zhiyu said to Consort Yun, ¡°Mother Consort, don¡¯t sympathise with him, this man is very cunning.¡± ¡°Where do I have time to sympathise with others? It¡¯s just that the rumours outside are so fierce and the situation is so big, so I mentioned it casually. I¡¯m not a doctor,¡± Consort Yun smiled and shook her head. ¡°But some time ago, my brother sent me a letter and mentioned this man to me. He said that he didn¡¯t expect the war to end so soon. Many caravans were able to survive thanks to him and are full of gratitude. The common people care about him.¡± Fu Zhiyu knew that even if he hated Xie Ke, he didn¡¯t want to deny Xie Ke¡¯s merits in this matter. Xie Ke was a natural ruler. Those in power didn¡¯t need extra feelings. Just like Emperor Qingyuan, Xie Ke could quickly throw away those things that he thought were not that important. In the previous life, people all over the world felt that Xie Ke was right to kill a tyrant, doing a great thing. Fu Zhiyu had long accepted this fact. But Xie Ke saying that he had loved him for a long time was very strange and he really couldn¡¯t believe it. Fu Zhiyu lowered his head, thinking about it, and took another sip of tea, his eyes a little puzzled. He had spent a lot of time thinking about these things in the Lord God¡¯s space and finally figured out some of the problems between him and Xie Ke. They were different kinds of people. If Fu Zhiyu loved someone, he couldn¡¯t hide it. He couldn¡¯t learn to hide his love, he wanted to hold all the good things in front of the man he loved to please him. But Xie Ke wasn¡¯t like this; Fu Zhiyu felt that he could never love others at all. From this point of view, they didn¡¯t suit each other. Xie Ke was rational and selfish by nature, and Fu Zhiyu felt that he had a reason to believe that he was lying now. He was a powerful actor, wasn¡¯t he? He wouldn¡¯t be so fragile, he must be pretending again, and this time Fu Zhiyu wouldn¡¯t believe him. CH 43 The people in the Imperial Hospital really couldn¡¯t help Xie Ke. Even if they were scolded by the emperor, if they couldn¡¯t save him, they couldn¡¯t save him. During this period, the Xie residence posted notices outside promising a lot of money for medical treatment. Many people came to try, but there were few useful doctors among them. In the mansion of General Zhongyong, Xie Lin, who knew that Nong Yu was Xie Ke¡¯s confidant, not just a servant, handed over most of the big and small things in Xie Ke¡¯s courtyard to him, just in case someone in the mansion wanted to use this opportunity to have some crooked thoughts. During this time, Nong Yu was very busy; he had to take care of Xie Ke and find him a doctor, and he had to beware of others entering Xie Ke¡¯s room and hearing things that shouldn¡¯t be heard. Xie Ke often called Fu Zhiyu¡¯s name while unconscious. Fortunately, on the day the emperor came, Xie Ke drank his medicine and fell asleep, so he didn¡¯t say this name in front of the emperor. Recently, in the name of the need to recuperate, even Xie Lin was banished by Nong Yu, and only a few of Xie Ke¡¯s closest people knew what was going on. Nong Yu felt that maybe if Fu Zhiyu could come, Xie Ke would feel better, but he really couldn¡¯t invite Wang Zhao. Even if Xie Ke¡¯s life was really in danger now, Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t care at all. Nong Yu didn¡¯t know what kind of story had happened between the two of them that led to this situation. Xie Ke obviously loved Wang Zhao very much, didn¡¯t he? Maybe there was really no perfect life in this world, and people who did well in other aspects had to suffer from rocky relationships. Several of the visiting doctors were still talented and knowledgeable. After taking a few medicines, Xie Ke woke up for a while that night. ¡°Zhiyu¡­ is Zhiyu there?¡± He coughed twice, only to feel that his head was heavy; he tried to move his body but couldn¡¯t, ¡°I¡¯ll¡­ go find him.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t move,¡± Nong Yu hurriedly went to help him, and said urgently, ¡°Can you just let Wang Zhao go and let yourself go too? What have you become now? Do you really want to die?¡± ¡°I¡¯m fine,¡± Xie Ke sat up stiffly. He just woke up, his mind wasn¡¯t quite clear, and he muttered, ¡°I¡¯ll be fine. Zhiyu is still here. I¡¯m going to see him. I won¡¯t¡­ leave him alone again.¡± ¡°Just lie down,¡± Nong Yu smelled blood again and knew that Xie Ke¡¯s wound must have reopened. He couldn¡¯t help but worry, ¡°Even if I let you go, do you have the strength? Is it going to be the same as last time, running to someone else¡¯s bed at night, and in the end fainting and being sent back by the shadow guard?¡± Xie Ke struggled a few times and knew that what Nong Yu said was true. In his current state, he couldn¡¯t even pass Nong Yu¡¯s level. He took a few heavy breaths; his mind seemed to be clearer, and he compromised: ¡°You go out first and leave me alone for a while.¡± As long as he didn¡¯t go to Wang Zhao, everything else would do. Nong Yu obediently went out and closed the door behind himself. ¡°027, are you there?¡± Xie Ke coughed a few more times. He could feel the pain in his back as if he was burned by fire, and there was also a smell of blood and a taste of rust in his throat. ¡°Zhiyu, Zhiyu, has he ever come here?¡± ¡°No,¡± the system voice sounded after a while, ¡°Du Yin went to invite him, but he refused to come.¡± It was expected, but Xie Ke couldn¡¯t help feeling a little distressed. After a while, he asked again: ¡°Is my body okay now? Is it really not working anymore?¡± It took a while for the system to answer, ¡°The vast majority of these are traumatic injuries. You have been in a coma, and the system cannot use the host¡¯s props without the host¡¯s command. However, when you are injured so badly, healing props generally have some side effects. The pain will be very bad. My basic functions have long been turned off by the Lord God, including pain blocking, so you can only endure it by yourself.¡± ¡°That¡¯s okay, you can use it. It¡¯s not the first time that the pain blocking has been shut down. I¡¯m prepared. Just keep this body from dying,¡± Xie Ke breathed a sigh of relief and murmured again. ¡°Zhiyu has suffered a lot for me, right? I didn¡¯t know it would be like this back then¡­¡± Before he finished speaking, the side effects of the use of props came. It was a pain like being hit by an electric current. It hurt so much that every piece of flesh in his body seemed to be stabbed by a needle. Xie Ke grabbed the quilt under him tightly, unable to make a sound. He only felt that there was darkness in front of his eyes, and this kind of pain seemed to have no end; but Fu Zhiyu¡¯s appearance in his mind became clearer and clearer. It made him feel that the pain all over his body was much lighter, and everything he suffered was nothing compared to this. Advertisements ¡°Props aren¡¯t everything,¡± he heard the system remind him in the midst of such pain, ¡°Your body has been repaired like this, and its strength is greatly reduced. It will no longer be as good as it was before. Take care of yourself and recuperate well in the meantime.¡± After a few more days, when Fu Zhiyu went out to listen to the storytellers as usual, he learned that Xie Ke was getting better. The doctors said that this was a miracle from Heaven but when Fu Zhiyu heard it, he just felt that he had guessed correctly. Xie Ke would be fine after all. However, after the Young General Xie woke up, the storytellers in the streets and alleys began to tell stories about him again. Even though there were no new ones, the girls wept with joy. Fu Zhiyu could hear it even hiding in the courtyard of the residence. It was very annoying. Xie Ke¡¯s waking up was something Fu Zhiyu expected, and he didn¡¯t feel any surprise. Leaving aside his negative impression of Xie Ke, for the whole situation, as long as Xie Ke was there, the emperor¡¯s dependence on the Xie family became greater and greater. Fu Rongye and Fu Lingxiao wouldn¡¯t stop messing around. The more stressed they were, the more violent their moves would be. They were somewhat quiet now, but neither Fu Lingxiao nor Fu Rongye were fuel-saving lamps (meaning they were shrewd and had many tricks), and Fu Zhiyu was really looking forward to seeing what they would do in the future. They would better not be foolish enough to involve innocent people. It would be the best if it was like in the previous life, the upper levels solving their upper-level things by themselves. Trying to force the emperor to abdicate would be good. Fu Zhiyu had thought that Xie Ke would recuperate properly and stay away from him for a while. But on the third night, the man jumped over the wall of the residence. His upper body was still wrapped in layers of gauze, and he began to bleed again after moving so much. Fu Zhiyu had just finished dinner, sat on the couch and played with Rongrong¡¯s ears. When Xie Ke came in through the window, Rongrong barked a few times and his puppy face looked more serious than ever before. Standing in front of Fu Zhiyu, he tensed and let out a low growl, as if there was some monster in front of him. ¡°It¡¯s okay,¡± Fu Zhiyu rubbed Rongrong¡¯s head to comfort him, ¡°Rongrong is not afraid, it¡¯s just a strange man, he will leave soon.¡± Xie Ke, who was labelled as a ¡°strange man¡±, wasn¡¯t angry at all. Instead, he smirked and started to move towards Fu Zhiyu again, not caring at all about Rongrong who opened his mouth, ready to bite him. ¡°Little baby, go outside and find Mingdao to play with,¡± Fu Zhiyu quickly patted Rongrong to calm him down, ¡°Good boy, if you really bite him, things will be troublesome. Some people are so shameless they will use it to blackmail Wang Zhao¡¯s residence.¡± Although Rongrong was very reluctant, he still obeyed his master. He barked in warning at Xie Ke twice and stared at Xie Ke with his black eyes before leaving, as if Xie Ke was some kind of bandit. Xie Ke: ¡°¡­¡­¡± He was a little jealous when he came in and saw this scene. A dog was treated better than him. Now Zhiyu would never hug him and call him his little baby. ¡°What are you doing here?¡± Fu Zhiyu said, ¡°Do you think you¡¯re immortal?¡± His tone was cold enough, but Xie Ke just smiled at him, focusing on a strange point: ¡°Does Zhiyu care about me?¡± ¡°Dream on.¡± Fu Zhiyu rubbed his brow. Xie Ke was really strange. Even in the world of the book, everyone had their own behavioural logic. Now that the plot had become free, it was obvious that everyone produced behavioural changes in accordance with their own logic. The Crown Prince, the Third Prince and Emperor Qingyuan were all like that. Even Fu Rongli had his own logic and would not inexplicably act illogically. Although Xie Ke was an actor from outside this world, he was not a psychopath, and all his actions should have had their own logic and reasons. Fu Zhiyu thought he was acting out of guilt and regret before, but now he felt that he had no explanation. Fu Zhiyu used to think that Xie Ke was an absolutely rational person. Especially after knowing that he was an actor, this rationality was also explained in a reasonable way. But now Xie Ke¡­ Fu Zhiyu glanced at him, only to feel that Xie Ke¡¯s IQ had indeed dropped a lot. Looking at him now, Rongrong was much more restrained than him. The point was that before, he felt that Xie Ke had rebooted the world because of a moment of guilt. Anyway, he had completed the task and got the points, so he decided to make up for his regrets, just treating it as if coming back for a vacation after too much work. But the more Xie Ke did, the more puzzled Fu Zhiyu felt. Advertisements Props were very rare, and sometimes they were life-saving things for the actors. Even if ¡°His Name Will Live On in History¡± was a super-advanced task and there were many reward points, the way Xie Ke used them, the points he earned from this world might not even cover the usage fee of one of the props. The Qianyuan Battle was fought a year and a half into the war in his previous life, but this time it only took about eight months, and the hesitant victory in the previous life was very different from the direct win in this life. Even if Xie Ke knew the specific direction of the war, King Xidan was not a waste. He would constantly adjust his strategy according to the situation. It was not that you could do everything well if you knew the plot. Xie Ke was an actor who was from outside the world, but he was inside it now, so he had to follow the basic laws of the world. He must have used props, and he probably used a lot of them. If it was because of guilt and regret, was it really worth it? Moreover, this was completely contrary to the essence of Xie Ke that Fu Zhi knew. If he could do this much for a moment of guilt and regret, and if things were like he said and he had long fallen in love with him, then why didn¡¯t he give up a few points for Fu Zhiyu in the past? Doing it now was like picking up the sesame seeds and losing the watermelon. Xie Ke changed too quickly, and Fu Zhiyu couldn¡¯t adapt. He only felt that Xie Ke was a stranger in front of him and he couldn¡¯t understand what Xie Ke was thinking. At this moment, Xie Ke spoke again. ¡°Did I scare you last time? I¡¯m sorry, Zhiyu, I¡¯ve been gone for so long. I talked to that shepherd couple again. Originally that night, I wanted to apologise to you, not only for what happened in the previous life, but also for forcing you after I came back this time. I didn¡¯t care then whether you liked it or not. I¡¯m sorry.¡± There were no seats around Fu Zhiyu¡¯s couch, and Xie Ke knelt in front of him, trying to catch his hand but without success. He could only look at Fu Zhiyu and say word by word what he had always wanted to say, ¡°In the last battle, the moment I was hit by the fire bolt, I just thought about not seeing you and not saying these things to you. I was so unwilling.¡± The barbarians¡¯ fire bolts were the top hot weapon of this era. It was specifically aimed at Xie Ke. If an ordinary person was hit by it, there would probably be no bones left on the spot. Although Xie Ke was an actor and his body had been strengthened through the exchange of points, it was incredible that he could still survive in this situation. He had spent a lot of time looking carefully at Fu Zhiyu in front of him, greedily trying to engrave everything about this person in his mind. After he hurriedly returned from the frontier, he only saw Fu Zhiyu briefly and then fainted uncontrollably. At that time, Xie Ke¡¯s consciousness was gradually dissipating because of the pain in his back, and his eyes were blurred. He didn¡¯t take a closer look at what his beloved looked like now. Now that he was awake, he could finally take a closer look. Zhiyu was now eighteen years old, and some baby fat had faded from his face, but he still looked like a teenager. Today, he didn¡¯t plan to go out. He was dressed casually and his hair wasn¡¯t tied. He leaned on the pillow, looking lazy and beautiful. Xie Ke had travelled through so many worlds and had seen countless beauties, but even without beauty being in the eye of the beholder, Zhiyu was one of the most beautiful people in these many worlds. The first time he saw Fu Zhiyu, it was the accident of saving the wrong person. After Xie Ke pulled the person out of the ice lake, he felt something was wrong. He looked down and met a pair of fawn-like eyes. Those eyes stared at him without blinking, with an unconcealed affection that made Xie Ke¡¯s heart tremble for a long time. At that time, he thought he felt uneasy because he deviated from the plot. It was not the time for the protagonist and Fu Zhiyu to meet, so he deliberately avoided Fu Zhiyu for a while but once was still caught by him. ¡°Young Master Xie.¡± Fu Zhiyu stood in front of him, staring at him with eyes that were even more crystal clear. He was bold enough to move forward a little more when he saw Xie Ke stop, ¡°Will you have tea with me? I have inquired, you have nothing to do this afternoon, don¡¯t make any more excuses to refuse me.¡± Xie Ke didn¡¯t feel anything at that time, he was just extra wary, because the Fu Zhiyu in front of him was really different from the character in the plot. He didn¡¯t have the slightest idea that this person in front of him would have such a big impact on him in the future. Xie Ke had been an actor for many years, and he had always felt that there was really no difference between the emotional line and the plot line, it was just interacting with others anyway. It was a script, just follow it. He also didn¡¯t understand the actors who were obsessed with a certain person in a certain world, and he didn¡¯t understand what the desperate love described in some scripts was. Only when it was his turn did he realise that love made people want to live and die. He had met someone like this, and Fu Zhiyu was the one he was willing to give everything for. CH 44 When Xie Ke woke up from his coma, the system breathed a sigh of relief and told him in detail what had happened in the past few days. But after the system had rambled such a long paragraph, Xie Ke once again focused on the wrong point. ¡°He called the shadow guard? That summoning by Zhiyu saved me,¡± Xie Ke, lying on the bed, couldn¡¯t help but chuckle after listening to it, ¡°The grace of saving a life is given in return.¡± ¡°¡­I beg you to wake up a little,¡± the system was speechless, ¡°Save you? He wanted you to get out of there, okay? During the Qianyuan Battle, I was very worried. This is a rebooted world. No one can tell what will happen. If you really die here, maybe the actor will also die. It¡¯s not a problem that can be solved by changing the shell. The Lord God is very angry, can you stop thinking about Fu Zhiyu?!¡± ¡°No,¡± Xie Ke said. He now thought of Fu Zhiyu, and his heart was full of pink bubbles of happiness. ¡°The Lord God can¡¯t interfere with me now. Nothing can interfere with me and Zhiyu being together.¡± The system was stuck for a moment, unable to find what to say: ¡°Okay, anyway, you have survived now, you can do by yourself, I don¡¯t care about you anymore.¡± As a result, as soon as Xie Ke¡¯s condition improved a little bit, he immediately ran to Wang Zhao¡¯s residence. Fu Zhiyu listened to him talk but didn¡¯t say anything back, just glanced at him coldly. Xie Ke was stared at and although he didn¡¯t understand what this gaze meant, he just felt that all the thoughts in his mind had disappeared, and there was only Fu Zhiyu left. ¡°Go back, we have nothing to say to each other, and I don¡¯t want to hear any apologies,¡± Fu Zhiyu said. ¡°I don¡¯t want to remember the past with you, nor do I want to listen to your psychological goings-on. Anyone can say beautiful things. I¡¯ll just call a storyteller in and he can make up such things for three days and three nights without any difficulty.¡± Xie Ke didn¡¯t dare to make him angry. After he reluctantly left, Fu Zhiyu sat in place for a while with his head down, thinking about something. At this moment, a familiar voice suddenly appeared in his mind. ¡°Zhiyu, Zhiyu,¡± the voice of the Lord God sounded a bit sneaky, ¡°Can you hear me?¡± Fu Zhiyu was startled and stood up from the couch. ¡°Lord God?¡± All in all, he hadn¡¯t heard this voice for more than a year and a half. ¡°It¡¯s me,¡± the Lord God said in a small voice, ¡°Zhiyu, is the world okay?¡± ¡°It depends on how you define it,¡± Fu Zhiyu thought for a while. ¡°Compared with the original plot, it is naturally falling apart, but in terms of overall stability, it should be good. The war has just ended and the time has been compressed. The people have suffered less. From this point of view, the world is fine.¡± The Lord God breathed a sigh of relief and said, ¡°That¡¯s good. What about you? How are you doing?¡± Advertisements Fu Zhiyu thought about his life for a while, only to feel that there was nothing to be picky about except for the dead-stubborn Xie Ke. Seeing that he was silent, the Lord God began to wonder: ¡°Has Xie Ke been sticking to you?¡± Fu Zhiyu stretched out his hand and rubbed his brow, asking, ¡°Can you take him away? He is really annoying.¡± ¡°Obviously not, otherwise I wouldn¡¯t be so overwhelmed now,¡± the Lord God said. ¡°I took the risk to come here again because I received a special fluctuation from this world. I think it should be Xie Ke who did something again, or he himself is a fluctuation. Only after I came here did I find out that he was injured.¡± ¡°Then don¡¯t worry,¡± Fu Zhiyu said, ¡°He is very selfish and cherishes his life, and he won¡¯t just die like this.¡± The Lord God sighed and said, ¡°Zhiyu, maybe you really have to change your fixed thinking about Xie Ke. He is really here for you. I didn¡¯t have time to tell you this last time. In order to reboot the world, he relinquished everything he had saved. The degree of his obsession is unimaginable. Now that he almost died, it is naturally impossible for him to let go easily.¡± Fu Zhiyu was a little puzzled when he heard this. He originally thought Xie Ke had just spent some time invading the system. It turned out that there was something behind it. The Lord God explained to him, more like spitting bitterly: ¡°The actors are also organised. I mentioned this to you. They are getting more and more difficult to manage. Xie Ke is the soul of the largest organisation. Rebooting a world is not that simple. It can¡¯t be done by just one actor. It took him a long time to unite several organisations to achieve his goal. Others are not philanthropists. There was no reason for them to help him casually. He exchanged a lot of things. And he didn¡¯t know how it would turn out once he was gone. All the matters of the organisation were temporarily handed over to others, and the entire actor world thought he was crazy.¡± ¡°Really going to die for an indigenous data? No wonder others are laughing at him,¡± Fu Zhiyu raised the corner of his mouth in a smile, ¡°He is really¡­ a capricious psychopath.¡± Every time he met Xie Ke in this life, Fu Zhiyu¡¯s perception of him was refreshed. He had felt several times that his vocabulary was insufficient and he couldn¡¯t describe Xie Ke¡¯s behaviour that went against human logic. ¡°But you have also mutated, so it should be okay to deal with him?¡± The Lord God continued, ¡°I turned off the functions of his system, and now he should¡­¡± ¡°Wait,¡± Fu Zhiyu couldn¡¯t help interrupting him, ¡°You turned off his system functions? No, he can still use props. I am sure that he must have used props, and his system is still there.¡± The Lord God was taken aback, and then explained to him: ¡°The system and the actor are bound. It is impossible to separate them without extreme circumstances. I can¡¯t control the props and physical improvements that have been redeemed with points. I¡¯m talking about the basic functions of the system.¡± ¡°Including¡­ blocking pain?¡± ¡°Of course.¡± The Lord God added, ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry about props. You are an abnormal data, or a super-bug that even I can¡¯t delete. Unlike other people, his props basically won¡¯t work for you.¡± Fu Zhiyu had known this for a long time, but he was somewhat relieved when it was confirmed by the Lord God. He thought for a while, and then suddenly asked a question: ¡°If Xie Ke dies in this particular free world, will the actor die too? Or is it possible for him to find another body to come back?¡± ¡°He will be greatly affected, and may disappear all together,¡± the Lord God said. ¡°I¡¯m not sure, but if Xie Ke¡¯s body dies, I should be able to control him. He won¡¯t be able to come back.¡± After hearing this sentence, Fu Zhiyu tapped his fingers, his mind spinning; he was about to ask something again, when the Lord God¡¯s voice suddenly disappeared, as if the channel for communication had been closed. At this moment, Steward Zhou knocked on the door and came in, first saluting Fu Zhiyu and then saying, ¡°Your Highness, the palace has rewarded you with another gift, it is in the courtyard. Do you want to go and have a look?¡± Advertisements The victory over barbarians was a great one, and the Xie family was promoted again. Emperor Qingyuan seemed to have finally relaxed. A series of rewards was given, and even Wang Zhao¡¯s residence that had nothing to do with it was rewarded. ¡°Let¡¯s put it all in the treasury,¡± Fu Zhiyu, who had just recovered from the conversation with the Lord God, sighed and said, ¡°I won¡¯t go to look at it. During this time, everyone in the residence has also worked hard. Give every person a gift of five taels of silver. As for Steward Zhou, you¡­¡± Fu Zhiyu thought for a while. He was wearing a jade pendant on his waist today, prepared by the maid, one of the items taken out of the treasury. Judging by its colour, it was worth a few hundred taels of silver. Seeing that there was no imperial mark on it, Fu Zhiyu took it off and gave it to the steward. Steward Zhou was naturally happy. He had served people for many years, but he hadn¡¯t met such a good-tempered master. Wang Zhao never harrassed his subordinates and didn¡¯t ask too much as far as food, clothing, housing and travel were concerned. He also often rewarded people. That was why Steward Zhou had to be grateful and serve carefully. After receiving the jade pendant, he thanked the master first, and then said, ¡°The boxes and objects that were sent are fine, but this time the palace also sent¡­ a few people.¡± Fu Zhiyu finally glanced up at him, wondering: ¡°How many people? There are already fifty or sixty servants and handymen in the residence to take care of me and Mingdao. Why do we need more people?¡± Steward Zhou wiped his sweat and said, ¡°It¡¯s not servants, it¡¯s concubines. I heard the eunuch who delivered the goods said that it was His Highness Crown Prince who spoke to the emperor, saying that Wang Zhao had lived outside the palace for so long and there was no one around to take care of him. It was inevitable that he would be lonely. And Wang Zhao was eighteen years old, already an adult, it was even late to give him someone just now. The emperor felt that it made sense. The matter of choosing a consort had to be discussed in the long run, but concubines could be prepared first, so the emperor sent a few people.¡± Fu Zhiyu frowned and said, ¡°How many are there?¡± ¡°Six, all beautiful,¡± Steward Zhou said. ¡°They are standing outside. Does Master want to see them?¡± This was a reward from the emperor, and it couldn¡¯t be sent away casually. Fu Zhiyu originally wanted them to live in a more remote part of the residence and take care of themselves, but just as he was about to give an order, he thought of something and changed his mind. ¡°I¡¯ll see them now,¡± he said, ¡°call them all inside.¡± As soon as Steward Zhou got the order, he brought the people in. There was indeed something to look at. Fu Zhiyu just said ¡°them¡± but to be more precise, there were four women and two men among the six people. After they came in, they all knelt down and saluted Fu Zhiyu, saying their names one by one according to Steward Zhou¡¯s order. They seemed to be a little scared, and their voices were very low, so Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t hear much clearly. The existence of male concubines in this dynasty wasn¡¯t strange, and it had nothing to do with open-mindedness. Powerful people would do anything for fun, and male concubines were nothing special as long as this kind of relationship was hidden in the back of the house. They were indeed very beautiful, and the emperor had some vision in choosing these ones. Fu Zhiyu observed them with interest, remembering the past. Back then, it was his choice not to touch anyone else for the sake of Xie Ke. And after becoming the emperor, he approved memorials almost every day until the night, devoting himself to political affairs. He really didn¡¯t have free time. Now that he was free, it was okay to try something that he had never tried in his previous life. He didn¡¯t plan to marry a consort. He would run away when the time came, so he didn¡¯t want to waste the time of an innocent woman. Fortunately, Jilin had no tradition of getting married early. The Crown Prince and the Third Prince were much older than him, and they had not married a formal wife yet. The Crown Prince¡¯s formal wife was a matter of interest and had to be carefully selected by many parties. Fu Zhiyu was younger than them, so naturally there was an excuse to put it off. It was true, but he felt that he didn¡¯t need to be tied to Xie Ke¡¯s crooked tree for another lifetime, right? CH 45 Thinking of this, Fu Zhiyu raised his head again and took a closer look at the six people in front of him. The young man standing on the far left should be about the same age as him, and he was the one who seemed to Fu Zhiyu the most pleasing to the eye. The other five were taken by Steward Zhou to a more remote courtyard according to his instructions. They were not allowed to come out at will without his request. The young man stayed behind. Fu Zhiyu beckoned, motioned for him to come over, and asked, ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡± The young man saluted again, looking scared, his voice trembling as he said, ¡°This slave¡¯s name is Lu Zhi (l¨¸ zh¨© = green branch).¡± ¡°This doesn¡¯t sound like a man¡¯s name,¡± Fu Zhiyu asked again, ¡°Do you have a real name? Where are you from? What did you do before?¡± The young man hesitated for a while and said, ¡°Yes, this slave¡¯s original name is Lu, Lu Jian. My ancestral home is in Jiangcheng. I am the son of a concubine. I studied for a while but my family fell into poverty, so I was sold by my mother.¡± So he was from a clean family. Fu Zhiyu took a closer look at his hands. He had studied and learned to read and write. Had he also learned to play a musical instrument? ¡°You know how to play music?¡± Lu Jian nodded and said, ¡°I can play the pipa.¡± ¡°Play it, I¡¯ll listen,¡± Fu Zhiyu said, ¡°I¡¯ll tell someone to send a pipa in. Play it right here.¡± In fact, Lu Jian¡¯s pipa was rather mediocre, but he played a good tune. It was not the kind of gorgeous music that was often played in the capital and the palace, rather a local song, refreshing to hear. Fu Zhiyu listened for a while, feeling somewhat interested, then stretched out his hand to interrupt Lu Jian. ¡°You can live in the Lilac Courtyard. Just you, no need to squeeze with the others,¡± Fu Zhiyu said. ¡°Tell the steward what you need, I¡­ I will see you at night.¡± Lu Jian trembled for a moment, then glanced at Fu Zhiyu secretly again, knowing what the master meant, and retreated after saluting. In the evening, Fu Zhiyu and Yuan Mingdao didn¡¯t mention this trivial matter when they had dinner. Advertisements Yuan Mingdao has been practising martial arts in his courtyard recently with his half-moon scimitar. Fu Zhiyu had entrusted his younger uncle to ask the caravan that was going to the Western Regions to find it in advance. Thanks to Fu Zhiyu¡¯s pills, the merchant of the Western Regions had recently had a good relationship with Yuan Jiangwen. Hearing of this request, he bought the scimitar and delivered it to Yuan Mingdao directly. This scimitar was Yuan Mingdao¡¯s other life. He had been practising with it in the small courtyard in order to restore his previous skills as soon as possible. Now he also left quickly after eating. ¡°Don¡¯t move at once just after you¡¯ve eaten,¡± Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t forget to remind him, feeling that it was really like raising a son, ¡°Rest for some time!¡± Yuan Mingdao had long slipped away and it took a while for Fu Zhiyu to hear his reply: ¡°I know~¡± Fu Zhiyu sighed sadly: the child grew older and couldn¡¯t be controlled. In the evening, he was alone in the Huxin Pavilion, enjoying the moon. He drank a sip of wine when he felt like it until Steward Zhou reminded him that someone was waiting for him. The Lilac Courtyard was one of the better courtyards in the back of the residence. It was originally supposed to be a place where the imperial concubines would live, different from simple concubines who were not allowed to leave the courtyard without permission. But Fu Zhiyu now had no imperial concubines, so he could make whatever arrangements he wanted. He didn¡¯t care too much about whether there were any spies sent by the Crown Prince. There was really nothing to spy on in this residence. No matter what the Crown Prince could see, he couldn¡¯t find anything wrong. Fu Zhiyu obviously saw that one of the concubines was most pleasing to the eye and tried him out when he was bored. It was normal for a person to have physical needs. He was not a saint either. It would be better if he could get rid of the shadow of Xie Ke in his previous life. Besides, in the past, he had only wronged himself for Xie Ke¡¯s sake. Now he naturally had no such concerns. While thinking like this, Fu Zhiyu opened the door of the Lilac Courtyard. Lu Jian had already freshened up, and he finally didn¡¯t have that scent of the greasy powder that Fu Zhiyu hated. He only wore a white robe and looked much more handsome. Fu Zhiyu was half a head taller than Lu Jian. He still had a half-full jug of wine in his hand. Sitting down on the seat in the room, he beckoned to Lu Jian to come over. Lu Jian walked up to him and didn¡¯t dare to move closer. ¡°Are you afraid of me?¡± Fu Zhiyu asked him. Lu Jian shook his head hurriedly and said, ¡°No¡­ Wang Zhao is too precious, this slave dares not¡­¡± Fu Zhiyu laughed when he heard this. He felt that Lu Jian seemed to regard him as some kind of precious porcelain, the kind that would break when touched. Lu Jian lowered his head, unable to resist the desire to see Wang Zhao smile again. The concubines chosen by the emperor were naturally all good-looking. The reason why Lu Jian was sold by his mother was also because of his face. He was sold for a full five hundred taels of silver in a remote place, which was enough for the family to live a long and prosperous life. Later, after several changes of hands, he was sent to the capital. Wang Zhao was the first person he would serve after he had been trained for a long time. He was listening to some gossip outside and the rumours were that Wang Zhao was a fool and his brain was not working. The emperor pitied him and made him a wang. Before Lu Jian came here, he thought he would see a dumb, demented man. But once he took a look at the man sitting in front of him, he didn¡¯t dare to breathe. How in the world could there be such a good-looking man?¡­ Advertisements He couldn¡¯t help feeling ashamed of himself. He only felt that his face, which was worth five hundred taels of silver, was really nothing in front of Wang Zhao. He didn¡¯t expect that this noble would take a special fancy to him. Now Wang Zhao was sitting in front of him, with a faint smell of wine on his body. Under the dim light, he could make anyone¡¯s heart tremble with his beauty. Lu Jian watched Fu Zhiyu stand up, get closer and closer to him, watched him lower his head and ask softly in his ear: ¡°Have they taught you how to please your master?¡± Lu Jian¡¯s mind was blank, and he couldn¡¯t say a word, but he heard Fu Zhiyu chuckle, and the smell of wine on his body seemed to be a little stronger. ¡°No? It¡¯s fine¡­ let me teach you.¡± But before the ambiguous atmosphere was created, Lu Jian heard the sound of the door being kicked open with a bang. He was startled, and then instinctively ran to hide behind the nearest table. Fu Zhiyu was a little drunk, but he was also awakened by the sound. Anyone who was disturbed at this moment would be unhappy. He was angry and turned his head to see that it was Xie Ke. He came alone, and Fu Zhiyu couldn¡¯t see his expression clearly but he saw Xie Ke walking in slowly with a silver spear in his hand. The tip of the silver spear scraped over on the ground, making a sharp, chilling sound. Fu Zhiyu frowned: ¡°What are you doing here again?¡± Xie Ke was obviously seriously sick, on the verge of dying, but he walked over like a desperate Yama, King of Hell. Lu Jian was so frightened that he couldn¡¯t even speak, so he just shrank behind the table, trembling all over. ¡°Which hand did he touch you with?¡± Fu Zhiyu heard Xie Ke¡¯s low, hoarse voice, completely different from usual, ¡°I¡­¡± Before he finished speaking, he was interrupted by Fu Zhiyu: ¡°He didn¡¯t touch me, but I touched him. I touched him with both hands. What now? Does General Xie want to cut off my hands? There are five other people in the courtyard, so what? What does this have to do with you?¡± Xie Ke slowly turned his head to look at him. In the dim light Fu Zhiyu could see that his eyes were bloodshot. After listening to his words, Xie Ke seemed to have suffered some great grievance. Fu Zhiyu: ¡°¡­¡­¡± In his life he had seen too many different sides of Xie Ke, but it was the first time he had seen him on the verge of crying. General Xie would still shed tears for this kind of thing, it was really¡­ crazy. Xie Ke stared at Fu Zhiyu for a while, only to feel that his heart was about to be crumpled into a ball by the person in front of him. Obviously, he was in a good mood after meeting Zhiyu during the day today, and he was about to go back to recover from his injuries. He didn¡¯t expect to hear Nong Yu hesitantly tell him such a thing. He felt that the blood all over his body rushed into his head all at once, and he couldn¡¯t tell how he was feeling. He felt that it was a hundred times more painful than the wounds on his body. Now he saw Fu Zhiyu, but he couldn¡¯t be angry with him, and his hand holding the silver spear was shaking. ¡°I¡­ what exactly can I do?¡± He gritted his teeth and asked, only to feel that the splitting wounds on his body stretched all the way to his heart, causing him to be enveloped in pain, ¡°If you have some pity on me, Zhiyu, you can¡¯t do this to me¡­¡± When he walked up to Fu Zhiyu, the tip of the silver spear was pointed at Lu Jian, and Lu Jian didn¡¯t dare to move, only watching the tip of the spear aiming at his chest. Fu Zhiyu was almost about to hold his forehead. Naturally, he didn¡¯t have any ambiguous thoughts now, and no matter what, Lu Jian was an innocent man. ¡°Put down the spear.¡± He was a little angry, stood directly in front of Lu Jian, kicked away the tip of the spear and stared at Xie Ke, obviously furious, saying word by word, ¡°You, dare.¡± Fu Zhiyu used a lot of strength. He was already very strong after his mutation and probably there was also Xie Ke¡¯s injury. Obviously, Xie Ke could restrain Fu Zhiyu more than a year ago, but now Fu Zhiyu kicked away the tip of the spear and Xie Ke took a step back. His wound must have opened again, and the smell of blood gradually filled the room. ¡°Get up,¡± Fu Zhiyu ignored him, lowered his head and helped Lu Jian up, realising that the young man was so scared he was limp all over. Indeed, in this situation neither side could be in any ambiguous mood. Xie Ke watched his movements, feeling as if all his emotions were controlled by the man in front of him, and yet he was willing. He finally threw the silver spear aside and then covered his eyes. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Zhiyu, I¡¯m obviously ready to change¡­¡± There was a slight choking sound in his voice, ¡°I don¡¯t want to scare you, nor do I want to make you angry, I just, just, don¡¯t want to see you touch others, it will kill me, it really will¡­¡± Fu Zhiyu looked at him, and then at Lu Jian, who was almost paralysed on the ground. The feeling in his heart was indescribably complicated. Wasn¡¯t it just favouring someone? What did Xie Ke think of himself as? What was he playing at? CH 46 Fu Zhiyu was angry in his heart, but he still had his wits about him. His relationship with Xie Ke was his own business, and there was no reason for others to watch the joke. Such a big movement in the Lilac Courtyard also alarmed the guards, but Shadow Seven, dressed in black, guarded the door with a sword, and no one else could get in. Only Steward Zhou was let in alone. He lowered his head, knowing that he shouldn¡¯t ask or see much about the master¡¯s affairs, so he just listened to the instructions. ¡°Clean up this place and take care of Lu Jian. He was scared,¡± Fu Zhiyu said, ¡°But the servants and Lu Jian both are not allowed to say a word.¡± Steward Zhou didn¡¯t dare to look up and nodded in agreement. Being interrupted like that, Fu Zhiyu naturally was quite angry. He dragged Xie Ke out of the courtyard, his face gloomy, feeling as if he was holding some large dog. Xie Ke was clearly crying. ¡°Crazy, unreasonable,¡± Fu Zhiyu began to say to him after he stopped, ¡°Only the official is allowed to light the fire but people cannot light a lamp (analogous to ¡°Gods may do what cattle may not¡±).¡± Xie Ke looked at him with red and swollen eyes, not understanding what he meant. ¡°In your previous life, you had a wife and many concubines. I tried to stop you but you didn¡¯t stop. So what are you hysterical about now?¡± Fu Zhiyu accused him, only to feel that the more he said, the angrier he became. ¡°The two of us have nothing to do with each other in this life. Who gave you the right to make trouble in my residence? Today, you told me that I can do everything I want. I¡¯m just pampering someone and you try to kill him. Xie Ke, can you just admit that you simply want me to be unhappy?¡± Fu Zhiyu really had some dark feelings over this matter. His two lifetimes were spoiled by Xie Ke. He had watched Lu Jian play the pipa and found him somewhat handsome and attractive, but now everything was ruined. Even if Xie Ke was gone, he wouldn¡¯t touch Lu Jian anymore. Xie Ke couldn¡¯t help but hug him again, and was pushed away by Fu Zhiyu. He could just explain incoherently: ¡°¡­I didn¡¯t, I didn¡¯t touch them.¡± ¡°Nonsense,¡± Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t believe it, ¡°Do you think I¡¯m a three-year-old child?¡± ¡°Really not. I, I also told you in my previous life. I thought you knew¡­ I really didn¡¯t lie to you about this,¡± Xie Ke was anxious and didn¡¯t know how to explain it clearly to Fu Zhiyu. ¡°I have only done it with you, and I only like you alone, really, Zhiyu.¡± He muttered a few words after that, very quietly, but Fu Zhiyu heard them. ¡°I¡­ skipped it every time.¡± Fu Zhiyu: ¡°¡­¡­¡± He had been in the Lord God¡¯s system, and he naturally knew that there was a skip function in the system, specifically for sensitive scenes, and also a kind of optional protection for the actor. After pressing it, in a blink of an eye, a scene would pass without the actor feeling anything. Advertisements He couldn¡¯t believe it. Could Xie Ke be so confused? What was his plan? But Fu Zhiyu¡¯s next immediate reaction was that whether this man had done it or not had nothing to do with him. ¡°Let go,¡± he began to struggle, and Xie Ke was pushed away by him again, ¡°Who gave you the right to touch me casually?¡± Xie Ke, pushed away, asked in a low voice, aggrieved: ¡°I am better-looking than him and in better shape than him. I am at your beck and call, Zhiyu, I actually¡­¡± ¡°What does it matter to you?¡± Fu Zhiyu was still angry, ¡°Get out, I don¡¯t want to see you again!¡± Xie Ke didn¡¯t leave, he didn¡¯t dare to leave. Although he couldn¡¯t get close to Zhiyu, his tone was still extremely gentle, and he seemed to be another person, completely different from the one with the silver spear just now: ¡°Then¡­ Zhiyu, go to sleep, I will guard you.¡± Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t accept his kind offer and stretched out his hand to push him outside: ¡°The residence is full of guards, and don¡¯t think I don¡¯t know, the shadow guards haven¡¯t left yet. What do I want you here for? Also, let me tell you, Xie Ke, my body is my business. You have interrupted me with this Lu Jian now, and there will be thousands of other Lu Jian in the future. If you have the ability, you can stop them! It has nothing to do with you who I like and who I want to touch! Get out!¡± He pushed Xie Ke out and closed the door immediately. Xie Ke also knew that he was angry and didn¡¯t dare to disturb him. But he didn¡¯t want to leave either, so he sat by the fence outside, staring at Fu Zhiyu¡¯s door. Steward Zhou cleaned up the mess in the Lilac Courtyard, and also picked up a spear thrown there. He took a closer look. This thing was not ordinary. Most importantly, there is a small character engraved on the handle ¨C Xie. He knew who the man who broke into the Lilac Courtyard was, even if he didn¡¯t dare to raise his head to look at him. Now this man was extremely popular. Steward Zhou had met him once before and remembered him. Now that he was holding this silver spear, he didn¡¯t know what to do with it. Steward Zhou thought for a while and decided to go to see his master. The door of Fu Zhiyu¡¯s room was locked tightly, but there was a man sitting by the fence outside. In the darkness, he coughed softly a few times, and then looked up at Steward Zhou. ¡°Your stuff,¡± Steward Zhou didn¡¯t dare to look at him, nor did he want to figure out what the relationship was between him and his master, ¡°My master¡­¡± Xie Ke took the silver spear and put it aside lightly, making a quiet movement at him: ¡°Zhiyu is asleep, don¡¯t bother him. Are you the steward of the residence?¡± Steward Zhou nodded. ¡°If there is anything urgent here in the future, come to the general¡¯s mansion to find me, Zhiyu¡­ Wang Zhao¡¯s business is my business.¡± Steward Zhou was a little afraid of him, to be honest, but he couldn¡¯t tell what his master was thinking, so he temporarily nodded, and then retreated after saluting. He also knew that in any case, today¡¯s affairs would be buried in his heart and he would never say a word about them to the outside world. Advertisements Xie Ke waited for Steward Zhou to leave and moved his fingers. His whole body hurt. Although his injury was not healed yet, he also clearly felt what the system meant when saying ¡°the repaired body is not as good as before.¡± He used points to strengthen his physical fitness to the top level, had taken a hit, and now he might not be able to resist Zhiyu. Xie Ke lowered his head and coughed a few times before falling silent. Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t actually fall asleep in the room. He lay on the bed, rolling a few times, only to feel that Xie Ke was really a catastrophe that he couldn¡¯t escape. He wasn¡¯t very keen on this matter, he found Lu Jian just to try it out. Then Xie Ke came and immediately messed up all these things. Fu Zhiyu lay on the bed with his eyes open, trying to drive Xie Ke out of his mind, but he couldn¡¯t. He could now examine his heart and swear that he really didn¡¯t love Xie Ke, not at all, he just felt angry and puzzled. But this man had been entangled with him for ten years, and Fu Zhiyu was really confused by his series of manoeuvres. Even the Lord God told him that Xie Ke was dead set on not letting go. But Fu Zhiyu really wanted to know what kind of situation made Xie Ke make that choice in the past. If Xie Ke really liked himself a long time ago, why did he not even want to lose a few points for him back then? And after the matter was over, he had to spend countless times more to restart it all. He was not stupid. Whether he wanted to know what the painful truth was or simply curious to find a reason for his past self, he was afraid that he would get involved in the whirlpool of Xie Ke again and wouldn¡¯t be able to come out of it, bringing new pain to himself. In this mood Fu Zhiyu gradually fell asleep. He got up a little late the next morning and felt a headache. He was not used to eating in his room. He always went to the hall to eat with Yuan Mingdao, but he got up really late today and it was almost noon. Yuan Mingdao thought he was tired and didn¡¯t bother him. After eating alone, he went to practice with the scimitar again. Fu Zhiyu had breakfast and lunch at once. The kitchen didn¡¯t know when the master would get up, so the food was always warm on the stove and could be served as soon as he sat down. The food in the residence was always rich. Fu Zhiyu looked at the full table of dishes and saw a bowl of beef noodles that seemed to look quite appetising. The kitchen had never made such noodles. Fu Zhiyu was hungry, so he took it and had a few mouthfuls. It was really well made. The noodles were smooth and firm, the beef was delicious, and the stew was rich and tempting. After a while, half of the small bowl of noodles was gone. Steward Zhou said next to him at this time: ¡°This is what General Xie made.¡± Fu Zhiyu coughed suddenly, almost choking. ¡°Who told you to bring it in?¡± He was quite angry, feeling that the anger that had subsided overnight flared up again, and put down his chopsticks, ¡°Are you really not afraid of what he put in it?¡± Steward Zhou was taken aback. It was the first time he saw Fu Zhiyu get angry. He quickly knelt down and apologised for his mistake. Then, seeing Fu Zhiyu¡¯s temper ease somewhat, he explained: ¡°The cook watched it. General Xie said that you liked to eat this and you can¡¯t eat it in the capital. He went out this time and deliberately learned from someone how to cook it, so we must serve it. After he finished cooking, he couldn¡¯t hold on any longer and was taken away for medical treatment. You woke up at this time, and this dish was the hottest in the kitchen. I took the liberty to serve it to you. Please punish me, Master.¡± ¡°Okay¡­ get up.¡± After all, Steward Zhou was too old to let him kneel like this, and Xie Ke was someone even he couldn¡¯t argue with, let alone the servants. Fu Zhiyu looked at the bowl of noodles now, and his mood was very complicated. Anyway, he couldn¡¯t eat it anymore, so he ate something else hastily to get full. ¡°Don¡¯t do it in the future,¡± he said. ¡°Throw away everything Xie Ke gives. He is not allowed to come in. If anyone in the residence decides to accept benefits from him and betray me, this person will be immediately driven out of the house.¡± Steward Zhou didn¡¯t know why his master made such a big deal about General Xie. It was the first time that the master said such a serious thing, but he felt Fu Zhiyu¡¯s anger and quickly nodded in response. ¡°As for Lu Jian, let him live there, but remember to add a few more people to the courtyard to prevent some psychopath from coming in to kill him,¡± Fu Zhiyu ordered again, ¡°The same with the rest of the people, let them be watched and be careful, so that they don¡¯t somehow fall victim to someone¡¯s poison.¡± Steward Zhou nodded, and obediently arranged it according to his master¡¯s request. How big a grudge this was, he couldn¡¯t help muttering in his heart. The author has something to say: Regarding the question of double cleanliness (the concept of both the MC and the ML being the first and the only for each other), someone asked in the comments area, and I didn¡¯t answer because it involved spoilers. Now this chapter is out and it is clear to everyone. But I have also said before that Xiao Yu is the gong¡¯s first love and it was also mentioned earlier that the actor can pull the progress bar, which was a hint. Before this world, Xie Ke was a workaholic with no feelings, and his emotional intelligence was low (and it is now). He would choose to pull the progress bar for all plots where the progress bar could be pulled, because he felt that ¡°extra playing time will increase the risk of deducting points¡±. Needless to say, Xiao Yu liked Xie Ke too early in his previous life, so he never considered others. The most important aspect is that Xie Ke is an actor. His perspective is very different from Zhiyu¡¯s, but it is also an indisputable fact that he has caused harm to Zhiyu. CH 47 The half-eaten bowl of noodles was thrown away, but the fact that Xie Ke would cook for someone could scare people to death. Fu Zhiyu was also frightened. He only felt that Xie Ke being like this made him want to run. Xie Ke was like a deadly spider, weaving a web step by step, so sure that no matter how Fu Zhiyu retreated, he would fall into his trap again. Such fear was enough for Fu Zhiyu to let go of his curiosity and to firmly decide to stay as far away from Xie Ke as possible. However, Xie Ke didn¡¯t come to his residence in the next month. Perhaps when he was tossing like this last time, his wound had worsened again. This man should have still cherished his life. The next time he saw Xie Ke again, it was at the reward ceremony. All the civil and military officials were present, and the princes were also here. Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t want to go but it was impossible to be absent on this occasion. Xie Ke was there as if he had never been injured before, and he was the one who made the most uproar at the ceremony. In accordance with the rules for military generals, he was dressed formally today, in a robe embroidered in gold on a black background, with a golden-winged lifelike dapeng on it, as if ready to fly. This was not something that anyone could wear, it was clearly the standard of a first-rank general. The rules for the promotion of military generals were very clear; they relied on military merit, and the merits of the Qianyuan Battle were enough for three generations. When Xie Lin reported to the emperor, he also made it clear that there were talented people in the younger generation, and Xie Ke commanded the winning battles in the middle and late stages of the war. Moreover, Xie Lin¡¯s status was so high that if he was promoted again, the credit would be too great (meaning that his status would be so high that the emperor would feel threatened). So most of the great deeds were attributed to Xie Ke. In this case, his age of early twenties was not an important thing. Xie Ke was named General Zhenyuan and given the general¡¯s residence and a bunch of other things as rewards. What made Fu Zhiyu¡¯s eye twitch was that whether the good houses stored by the imperial family for rewards were all grouped together or for other reasons, the residence of Wang Zhao and the residence of General Zheyuan were diagonally opposite each other. ¡­From now on, you could imagine what Xie Ke, this stalker, would do. The soldiers who participated in the Qianyuan Battle also received rewards, and the Lu family and Du family who guarded the capital also were rewarded. Xie Ke¡¯s right-hand men, Lu Linhai and Du Yin, rose from the position of imperial guards to the third-rank generals and were naturally assigned to be Xie Ke¡¯s subordinates. In addition to the Qianyuan Battle, there were other things in the reward ceremony. Shen Yang was made the head of the Ministry of Justice, as he wished. Fu Zhiyu looked at him and only felt that Shen Yang had changed a lot, to the point that it couldn¡¯t even be explained by his rebirth, as if he had been stimulated by something. The Ministry of Justice was different from the censorate responsible for supervision. This was the institution for violent execution and torture. Its aura of ruthlessness was impossible to suppress. Shen Yang had always been a weak scholar in Fu Zhiyu¡¯s impression. Even though he betrayed Fu Zhiyu in cold blood in the end, it was true that he was too weak to bind a chicken. He was not even good at quarrelling with others. He was tall and thin, at first glance looking like a bamboo pole that a gust of wind could blow over. But now that he saw Shen Yang again, Fu Zhiyu had no way of relating him to the man he remembered. Shen Yang was obviously much stronger, and the official uniform of the head of the Ministry of Justice was dark red, as if he was wearing coagulated blood on his body. The animal and flower patterns embroidered against the red background were all black. Wearing this red and black, and as tall as he was, he was noticeable at a glance when standing among the officials. Although there was a smile in the corners of his lips, it made people feel inexplicably cold. When he looked at someone, it seemed there was an interrogation whip in his hand, making people afraid to look at him directly. Advertisements In addition to the officials, the princes also had good news. Fu Rongye and Fu Rongli were named Wangs, the Third Prince was named Wang Li, and the Eighth Prince was named Wang Ming. The imperial family probably couldn¡¯t do without some sweetness either. Finally, Emperor Qingyuan bestowed marriage to the Crown Prince and Xue Rouping, the youngest daughter of the Xue family. Now that the Lin and Xue families were weakened, they felt that there was no other option but to put aside their differences and discuss joining forces again. The emperor was originally reluctant, but he wasn¡¯t stupid. In the end, both sides, the emperor and the families, compromised. The Xie family and their subordinates the Du and Lu families were rewarded as much as the emperor wished, and the Lin and Xue families also got what they wanted. But while it seemed that each side compromised, in the end it was definitely the emperor who benefited. The Lin and Xue families were only given a marriage agreement and two Wang titles, which was not comparable to the series of promotions for the emperor¡¯s confidants. But the families couldn¡¯t be pushed too hard; even rabbits bite when they are cornered. Anyway, the end result was that Emperor Qingyuan was very happy and was smiling all day, as if he didn¡¯t feel tired at all. The day of the reward ceremony was an auspicious day calculated by the Imperial Astrologer who said it was a once-in-a-century date, so everything was piled up on this day. Fu Zhiyu, who wasn¡¯t involved in anything, stayed there for the whole day. Unlike Emperor Qingyuan, who could rely on excitement to support him, Fu Zhiyu only felt tired and hungry. But in the end, the marriage of Miss Xue made Fu Zhiyu¡¯s spirit fluctuate a little bit. According to the original plot, this one was supposed to be married to Xie Ke. The Xue family and the Xie family were not enemies, but they were definitely from two camps. This marriage was also very dramatic in the original work. Miss Xue was a temperamental person and deadly set on marrying Xie Ke. Prime Minister Xue had always favoured his youngest daughter and desperately begged the emperor to bestow the marriage. It was rumoured that Xie Ke went to the battlefield to come back successful and marry her. In the end, the two broke through the family shackles together. It was a good story. Fu Zhiyu had hoped that this matter would follow the original plot and prayed for Miss Xue to quickly take away the scourge of Xie Ke. He finally waited until the reward ceremony was completely over, only to feel that he could eat a cow. The others didn¡¯t walk as fast as him since they had to say a few pleasantries to each other, but Fu Zhiyu walked at a breakneck speed, almost trotting towards his carriage, ready to tell the coachman to go quickly so that he could finally have dinner. But before he got into the carriage, he was stopped by a hand on his sleeve. ¡°Fu Zhiyu,¡± it was the new Wang Ming, Fu Rongli. He was as happy as he could be today. He raised his head and glanced at Fu Zhiyu, ¡°Don¡¯t think you¡¯re so great. Sooner or later, your true face will be exposed by me and then I¡¯ll trample you underfoot. No, it will be me and my brother together!¡± Fu Zhiyu was too lazy to bother with him but Fu Rongli would be just more energised if he was ignored. He had been like this since he was a child. If he didn¡¯t flaunt his power about something, he would be uncomfortable, and then he would curse, and then he would definitely be hit in the face. ¡°I don¡¯t think I¡¯m great, Your Highness Wang Ming. I¡¯m hungry, really, let¡¯s talk about it another day.¡± Fu Zhiyu quickly pushed Fu Rongli¡¯s hand away, then got into the carriage and told the coachman: ¡°Ignore him and go quickly.¡± The coachman waved his whip, and the carriage started. Fu Zhiyu could still hear Fu Rongli¡¯s angry roar: ¡°You wait for me!¡± He used to have a rough time and he couldn¡¯t hold back after finally being made the Wang. He would definitely be scolded by Fu Rongye when he went back. Fu Zhiyu rubbed his stomach, having no wish to worry about him. He rummaged through the hidden compartment in the carriage. Unfortunately, he hadn¡¯t thought about it when he went out, and there was nothing to eat in the carriage. Steward Zhou was careful, not to mention that Yuan Mingdao was always thinking about him. The stove should be warm in the kitchen, and he would be able to eat as soon as he went back. But Fu Zhiyu¡¯s carriage had just turned onto the official road when it was stopped again. ¡°Is Wang Zhao here?¡± It was Shen Yang¡¯s voice. Fu Zhiyu lifted the curtain, only to see Shen Yang, who had been as sharp as a poisonous blade at the reward ceremony, standing in front of the carriage, saluting him in a dignified manner, saying: ¡°This subject and Wang Zhao have something to discuss. I have been sending messages to Wang Zhao¡¯s residence but got no response. I have no choice but to be this decisive. Please don¡¯t blame me, Wang Zhao.¡± After being reborn for so long, Shen Yang really hadn¡¯t seen Fu Zhiyu even a few times. He and Xie Ke were torn apart about Fu Zhiyu while cooperating. Xie Ke was really much more psychotic than in his previous life. Shen Yang didn¡¯t know how Xie Ke could gain so much power in a short time, as if he could do anything. But Xie Ke¡¯s words did make sense: ¡°You are just a minor official now, even if you meet Zhiyu, what can you do?¡± The head of the Ministry of Justice was naturally not the end of the line, but Shen Yang felt that at least this could make Fu Zhiyu have some impression of him. In their previous lives, they were the monarch and the subject, but in private they were friends. They probably couldn¡¯t be the monarch and the subject in this life, but Shen Yang felt that he could at least be a close friend. He would use all his strength to protect Zhiyu thoroughly and let him be carefree for the rest of his life, as if to pay for his sin of ingratitude in his previous life. Shen Yang was very nervous for a long time. He watched Fu Zhiyu stare at him for a while and then heard him ask coldly: ¡°Do you have anything to eat?¡± ¡°What?¡± Shen Yang never expected Fu Zhiyu to ask this. He was a little at a loss, ¡°This subject¡­ I didn¡¯t bring anything with me¡­ is it too late to buy it now?¡± There were strict regulations on commerce in the capital; only a few markets at the edge of the city could be open for business after nightfall. This was the official road, where could one find food for sale here? ¡°Then don¡¯t block my way,¡± Fu Zhiyu was so hungry that he felt like he was going to see stars in front of his eyes. If he continued like this he was afraid he would eat the table in the carriage, ¡°I don¡¯t know you, and don¡¯t send any more messages to this wang¡¯s residence from now on.¡± The carriage disappeared in the dust, leaving Shen Yang stunned in place. Advertisements But Fu Zhiyu¡¯s journey to dinner was still not going well, and the third person who stopped him was Xie Ke. Fu Zhiyu was about to lose his temper when he heard Xie Ke say outside: ¡°I don¡¯t mean anything else, and I know that Wang Zhao doesn¡¯t want to see me. It¡¯s just that I saw Wang Zhao standing there all day and never resting, so I prepared something. I¡¯ll give it to Wang Zhao and leave.¡± The coachman quickly brought in a greaseproof paper bag, and Xie Ke really left as he said. The carriage started again. Fu Zhiyu opened the greaseproof bag and saw there were a few pieces of his favourite snacks, as well as fried meat pie and a big fat chicken leg. He wouldn¡¯t eat what Xie Ke gave him even if he starved to death! Fu Zhiyu threw these things aside without looking at them. The place of the ceremony was some distance from Wang Zhao¡¯s residence. Even if the carriage moved fast, it took a long time. As soon as Fu Zhiyu arrived at the door, Steward Zhou came to greet him. ¡°The meal has been prepared in the hall,¡± he said, ¡°Master, go and eat something.¡± Fu Zhiyu ate hard for a while before he felt that the feeling of hunger had passed. But he didn¡¯t usually eat much; after his hunger subsided, he felt that he was eating too fast, and now he was a little too full. Steward Zhou served him tea for digestion, and after he drank it, he felt better. He half lay down on the small couch and asked Steward Zhou: ¡°How did you know that I would be back at this point?¡± ¡°The Young General Xie sent someone to deliver the message. Don¡¯t worry, Master, I didn¡¯t dare to use the food he gave me this time, and I will never accept his food. The kitchen made it all by itself,¡± Steward Zhou explained carefully. ¡°¡­You can have another sip of tea.¡± Fu Zhiyu: ¡°Doesn¡¯t receiving news count as receiving things from him¡­ do you just listen to whatever he says?¡± Steward Zhou knew that Fu Zhiyu wasn¡¯t an unreasonable person and bowed his head to explain: ¡°Master, for those of us who are subordinates, serving you well is the only consideration. It is just a message. It¡¯s a good way to serve the master. Knowing that the master was coming back, should I have ignored it and neglected you because this message was given by others? Everything in this residence is for you. How can there be any reason to listen to other people¡¯s instructions?¡± ¡°You are saying these beautiful things again, involved and tricky,¡± Fu Zhiyu couldn¡¯t get angry with him, waved his hand and said, ¡°Fine, it¡¯s late, go and rest.¡± He didn¡¯t need to get into a fight over a meal for Xie Ke, making himself a nuisance. However, Fu Zhiyu was really too full, and the digestion tea wasn¡¯t completely effective. He had been walking in the yard for a long time before he felt better. He was also very tired today, probably the most physically exhausted he had been since his rebirth, and he just wanted to go to bed quickly. But after he lay down for a while, he heard a faint sound coming from the window again. He didn¡¯t need to open his eyes to know that it was Xie Ke, but he was so tired that he didn¡¯t even bother to get up. He only felt that his consciousness was confused, and his eyelids seemed to weigh a thousand catties. ¡°Get out of here,¡± he muttered, kicking his legs, and kicked Xie Ke, who was already squatting by the bed, on the shoulder, ¡°Don¡¯t force me¡­ call a guard.¡± ¡°Zhiyu, be good, I really won¡¯t make you angry this time.¡± He heard Xie Ke approaching again and coaxing him softly, ¡°You stood all day today, and after you came back, you walked around for a while. Usually you are too lazy to practise martial arts. You don¡¯t feel it now, but your legs will hurt when you get up tomorrow morning.¡± Fu Zhiyu originally wanted to say that it was not his business, but he was too sleepy. He was already in a state of half-dreaming. Xie Ke¡¯s hands carefully massaged his legs, his strength gentle and comfortable. To Fu Zhiyu, it was like hypnosis. After a while, he fell asleep and spent the whole night in a beautiful dream. CH 48 Xie Ke breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Zhiyu gradually falling asleep. He had been to many worlds and learned a lot of things. Fortunately, he had such skills to come in handy at this time, as if it was prepared specially for Zhiyu. Fu Zhiyu was comfortable and hummed in a low voice in his sleep. He was willing to be obedient in front of him at this time. Xie Ke cherished this moment extremely. After massaging his legs, even if his heart was burning, he didn¡¯t dare to really do anything else. He just looked at Fu Zhiyu intently and couldn¡¯t help it; he leaned down and kissed his forehead extremely lightly, for fear of waking him up. He watched like this by the bed all night, without feeling sleepy at all, only submerged in a faint sense of happiness and satisfaction. This mood all came from the sleeping man lying on the bed. When Fu Zhiyu got up the next morning, Xie Ke was no longer there. He naturally remembered what happened last night, subconsciously moved his legs, and felt that this man was inexplicable. After eating breakfast, he told Yuan Mingdao about the events of yesterday¡¯s reward ceremony, and also let him know the current situation in the court. Xie Ke was mentioned in one sentence. Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t really want to mention him in front of Yuan Mingdao. Xie Ke was also a scar to Mingdao, and the memories he brought were very unpleasant. Fortunately, Mingdao had been focusing on scimitar practice recently and hadn¡¯t been out of the courtyard much. The Lilac Courtyard where Xie Ke made the most trouble was far from where Yuan Mingdao lived, so he shouldn¡¯t have heard about it. ¡°What?¡± Yuan Mingdao keenly captured the point and turned his head abruptly, ¡°Where is General Zhenyuan¡¯s residence? Across the street?¡± The half-moon scimitar in his hand was raised at that moment. Fu Zhiyu looked amused and said, ¡°What? Are you going to find trouble?¡± Yuan Mingdao snorted and said, ¡°Master says that we won¡¯t actively seek trouble, but if Xie Ke really dares to come, I¡¯ll skin him.¡± Rongrong pricked up his ears and followed suit with a loud ¡°woof¡±. He has been here several times, without you knowing, Fu Zhiyu muttered silently in his heart. But he was really annoyed by Xie Ke these days, so he just asked Steward Zhou to set up a kennel in his room and let Rongrong accompany him. ¡°Sleep with me from now on,¡± Fu Zhiyu squeezed Rongrong¡¯s paws, ¡°Don¡¯t let weird people in.¡± Rongrong: ¡°Woof!¡± Advertisements At night, Xie Ke really climbed the wall again. As soon as he got in through the window, he was bitten by Rongrong on the leg of his pants and stopped from going forward. Fu Zhiyu was already awake. Xie Ke knew that Fu Zhiyu loved the dog, so he didn¡¯t dare to touch it. ¡°Don¡¯t come from now on,¡± Fu Zhiyu said, ¡°It¡¯s really annoying.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Zhiyu, I didn¡¯t want to disturb your sleep, I just wanted to take a look,¡± Xie Ke quickly explained, and asked cautiously, ¡°Do your legs still hurt? Shall I massage them for you again?¡± Fu Zhiyu: ¡°¡­None of your business, hurry up and leave, don¡¯t touch me, touch me again and I¡¯ll let Rongrong bite you.¡± I¡¯ve already been bitten more than once¡­ Xie Ke was not afraid of the wolfdog, but he was afraid of his wife. After that, he was quiet for a few days. When Fu Zhiyu went to the palace to see his mother as usual, he found that Consort Yun had a few scrolls, looking at them left and right, as if studying something. ¡°What is Mother Consort looking at?¡± Seeing him come in, Consort Yun told him to sit down and explained: ¡°The Crown Prince¡¯s marriage will happen soon. There are two Wangs on the side of Linyue Tower, and it¡¯s time to discuss marriage for them. It¡¯s actually the same for you, but the things were delayed by the war. The emperor spoke to me yesterday and gave me these.¡± When Fu Zhiyu looked at the scrolls, they were all portraits of women. ¡°Didn¡¯t we agree we wouldn¡¯t think about it now?¡± Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t know whether to laugh or to cry, ¡°We won¡¯t stay here for long, so why bother to waste the others¡¯ time.¡± ¡°I know, I¡¯ll find an excuse to refuse after a while,¡± Consort Yun said, her face still full of excitement, ¡°But what¡¯s wrong with looking at them now? What mother doesn¡¯t care about this? Xiaobao is also an adult, it¡¯s time to get married. Besides, as you know, I have put off this matter several times, and it is not so easy to put it off again. Sooner or later, you will have to take time to go and take a look.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not going,¡± Fu Zhiyu lowered his head and ate a peanut, ¡°I don¡¯t want to go.¡± Consort Yun sighed, stretched out her hand to touch his head, and said solemnly: ¡°Zhiyu, that¡¯s about it for your mother. I¡¯ve met the wrong person, but you¡¯re still young, maybe you¡¯ll really meet someone you like?¡± Fu Zhiyu: ¡°¡­¡­¡± He didn¡¯t know how to explain to his own mother just how much of a failure his love life was, no better than hers, so he hastily changed the subject, putting all those scrolls aside. Advertisements The war had just passed and not only the imperial family was in full swing discussing marriage, but so were the courtiers below. At the reward ceremony, a group of young people was promoted, particularly Xie Ke, Du Yin and Lu Linhai. And there was also a group of imperial examination students headed by Shen Yang. All of them were yet to marry. Jilin was very open-minded in this regard. Many of the women¡¯s families took the initiative to hand out olive branches, and some women directly came forward to express their affection. The residence of General Zhenyuan had not been fully arranged yet, but there were already matchmakers on the threshold. Where Xie Lin came to visit his son, he had to squeeze through the crowd of matchmakers smelling of grease and powder. ¡°I used to have this time too¡­¡± Xie Lin patted himself vigorously, stretched out his hand and touched his face, nostalgic, ¡°When I was young, I was also a romantic figure in the capital, how many girls chased me, that scene, tsk¡­¡± Xie Ke just walked out of the door. When he heard this, he said, ¡°In the end, you married that idiot Xu?¡± Xie Lin also knew what Xie Ke¡¯s attitude was towards the matriarch of his family, but it was true that Lady Xu had provoked him first, and the backroom privacy really didn¡¯t matter to people like Xie Ke. He cleaned up the people in Xie Lin¡¯s mansion, large and small, and now they were obedient like sheep. Not to mention Lady Xu, sometimes even Xie Lin was a little scared of his son. ¡°She has always had this temperament, and I¡¯m just used to it. For people like us, marriage is like this, often it¡¯s just for benefit. I haven¡¯t even met her before I married her. How could I know what kind of person she was?¡± Xie Lin finished smoothly, ¡°Anyway, you now have your own general¡¯s residence, and you don¡¯t have to see her anymore, so don¡¯t mind that woman.¡± Xie Lin was not a polite person either. After he finished speaking, he walked to the hall and sat down on his own. He also stretched out his hand to get himself a cup of tea and said to Xie Ke: ¡°I¡¯m coming to you to discuss this matter. You have gotten your achievements now, and you are not young. It¡¯s time to marry a wife. The emperor is also interested. This time, it is very likely that you will be able to marry a princess.¡± Xie Ke raised his eyebrows and didn¡¯t say anything. Xie Lin was in high spirits, saying to him: ¡°There are a lot of imperial princesses of a marriageable age. The Seventh Princess is two years younger than you. She is good-looking and has a quiet personality. She is also known as a talented girl. The Tenth Princess is a little younger, she is sixteen this year, and she has a lively temperament. I have seen her a few times in the racecourse. She is heroic and valiant. You might like her¡­¡± Xie Ke also followed his words at this moment and continued: ¡°I really have a crush on someone, but I don¡¯t know if the emperor is willing to marry this person to me.¡± ¡°Who is it?¡± Xie Lin guessed, ¡°The Twelfth Princesses? She¡¯s a bit young, but not too much. According to the emperor¡¯s current attitude towards you, whoever you like in Jilin, as long as it is not too outrageous, he will follow your wishes.¡± ¡°Really?¡± Xie Ke smiled slightly, ¡°Good, go back to the emperor and say that I had a crush on the Ninth Prince and asked to bestow a marriage.¡± Xie Lin¡¯s mind hadn¡¯t processed his words for a while. He thought carefully and was just about to reply that there was no Ninth Princess in the palace and Xie Ke was teasing him with some nonsense joke. And he suddenly realised something. ¡°Ninth? The Ninth Prince?¡± He couldn¡¯t believe it, ¡±Wang Zhao? Are you crazy?¡± ¡°I am very sane. He is very good, just right for me,¡± Xie Ke lowered his head and took a sip of tea, and then glanced towards the door. That was the direction of Wang Zhao¡¯s residence, just across the street, ¡°Otherwise, why do you think I asked the emperor for this mansion?¡± Xie Lin stood up all of a sudden. He looked at Xie Ke, only to feel that his brain was congested and he couldn¡¯t think for an instant. ¡°If you have this kind of interests, just play in private! This is Wang Zhao! Even if his brain doesn¡¯t work anymore, he is the emperor¡¯s favourite son!¡± Xie Lin¡¯s voice lowered, ¡°Do you want to die?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not playing,¡± Xie Ke said. He didn¡¯t seem to understand why Xie Lin was so surprised. ¡°Didn¡¯t I tell you when I went to war? I have someone I like and he is hard to chase. I have to bet my life to marry him.¡± ¡°You, you, you¡­¡± Xie Lin pointed at him, his hand shaking, and finally the only thing he could say was, ¡°Asshole! Unfilial son!¡± ¡°You¡¯re talking nonsense again,¡± Xie Ke wasn¡¯t flustered at all. ¡°In fact, you know in your heart that it¡¯s not a big deal that I like men, it¡¯s just that that person can¡¯t be Wang Zhao, can¡¯t be the emperor¡¯s son. But why?¡± Xie Lin listened to this topic getting more and more out of control. Xie Ke took a step forward, stretched out his hand and patted him on the shoulder, saying softly: ¡°Have you really never thought that the so-called General Zhongyong is not the end of the line? You can actually go further and no longer have to suffer from these troubles.¡± The Xie residence was in a treacherous atmosphere, and across the street the Wang Zhao residence wasn¡¯t much better. Fu Zhiyu knew in his heart that the marriage matter couldn¡¯t be easily put off by his mother consort, so she could only drag it on. There used to be good excuses. He was young and his elder imperial brothers were not married. The current war also made the situation tense and it was not appropriate to do a lot of things. But now even the marriage of the Third Prince was almost settled and these excuses were not very useful. Even if he didn¡¯t marry right away, he would have to settle on someone. But Fu Zhiyu really didn¡¯t want to enter a marriage agreement. If a marriage agreement was made, it couldn¡¯t be changed at will, which would waste the time of an innocent girl. What made Fu Zhiyu feel even more creepy was that the emperor seemed to set his eye on the girl from the Xie family. This was also reasonable. The Xie family was the emperor¡¯s confidant, and now they had great achievements. Of course, the chain of marriage was the best way to tie them, but this was not good news for Fu Zhiyu. ¡°Mingdao, why don¡¯t you pretend to be a girl, and I¡¯ll marry you,¡± Fu Zhiyu seriously put forward an idea, ¡°I¡¯ll just say to the outside world that you were originally a girl, but wearing men¡¯s clothing.¡± Yuan Mingdao, who was forcibly sex-changed: ¡°???¡± ¡°It¡¯s not impossible,¡± Yuan Mingdao couldn¡¯t help blushing, his voice sticky, ¡°Master can do whatever he wants, I will help Master.¡± CH 49 But Fu Zhiyu knew that this wasn¡¯t feasible. Not to mention that Emperor Qingyuan had seen Yuan Mingdao and it was impossible for him not to know his gender, an imperial consort wasn¡¯t married casually. It wasn¡¯t possible to muddle through it like this. Besides, Mingdao was only twelve years old now, and Fu Zhiyu treated him as a younger brother. He was not such a beast. ¡°Let¡¯s just put it off,¡± he said, rubbing his brow tiredly, ¡°I just don¡¯t want to marry, can I be forced into a bridal chamber?¡± He was praying there was something that could attract the attention of Emperor Qingyuan and make him focus on politics and stop messing around with cooking mandarin ducks. He didn¡¯t expect that within half a month, a big event would really happen. The Qianyuan Battle was not just the victory over the barbarians, it also shocked the entire continent. Now that the barbarians had made a treaty to cede land and pay compensation, the first batch of offerings was to be sent to Jilin. But not only things would be sent there; people were also coming. King Xidan was coming. On the surface, he said that he admired the power of Jilin and was coming to apologise for his youth and ignorance in the past. But as soon as he announced it, the ancient countries of the Western Regions also took advantage of the situation and handed over letters, saying that there had been few exchanges between the countries of the continent in recent years. It was better to take this opportunity to have a gathering and in-depth exchanges. They also hoped it was a chance for the countries to understand each other in order to keep the peace in the continent and protect the people from war. Emperor Qingyuan knew in his heart that they wanted to find out where Jilin stood, but he was also confident that Jilin wasn¡¯t an embroidered pillow (something that has only appearance but no abilities). The Qianyuan Battle wasn¡¯t just a matter of good luck. So, this was an opportunity for everyone to see and recognise Jilin¡¯s status, so that they wouldn¡¯t dare to make random moves in the future. The two vassal states, Chen and Jing, naturally followed Jilin¡¯s meaning. As for Southern Xinjiang, a place that was easy to defend and difficult to attack, they had always been independent and never involved in these things, so Emperor Qingyuan didn¡¯t expect them to come. It was a rare event for the four countries to come to Jilin. However, it wasn¡¯t that fast to arrange the arrival of everyone. This event would also have to take a lot of time. Emperor Qingyuan was ambitious and wanted to sit firmly in the top spot of the first country of the continent. When Fu Zhiyu went to Liuli Palace again, he could hear the music playing from a distance. In order to showcase the power of the country, naturally, cultural, political and martial arts had to be involved. Emperor Qingyuan had always been a well-prepared person, and he had a lot of things to arrange. ¡°In the previous life there was none of this,¡± Yuan Mingdao also heard of it and said to Fu Zhiyu with emotion, ¡°Things in the world are changing so fast.¡± Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t know how to describe what was happening. All this could be traced back to the bowl of decoction that was spilled by Momo Gui in the imperial garden, and even further back to the choice he had made at the moment after waking up that was different from the previous life. The butterfly flapped its wings, causing an unpredictable hurricane, and everything that happened in the future was beyond his control. Fu Zhiyu was now just a person who drifted with the current. He just wanted to follow the vast development of history, quietly settling in a corner. Advertisements Because of this gathering, Emperor Qingyuan¡¯s attention was somewhat shifted, and he wasn¡¯t so concerned about urging Fu Zhiyu to marry anymore. However, the pressure was still there, and Fu Zhiyu changed his approach; it wasn¡¯t like there were no people in his harem. He wasn¡¯t going to go along with Xie Ke¡¯s wishes just because Xie Ke was up to something. Fu Zhiyu had no intention of having anything with Lu Jian now, but Lu Jian could play the pipa, so Fu Zhiyu occasionally called him in to listen to a tune. The other concubines sent by the palace were all versatile. One of them could do a sleeve dance. Fu Zhiyu took a look and thought it was good. Recently, there was nothing new in the stories told by the storytellers outside. They glorified the Xie family to the sky. Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t want to listen to it anymore. It was better to pick up a storybook at home and listen to the music occasionally or watch dancing, and life could be considered delightful. He also deliberately took one of the sultry-looking concubines out several times, causing rumours that he was lascivious and spoiled his concubines excessively. Wang Zhao was now out of his mind, and there was basically no possibility of him inheriting the throne. The high-ranking families had a purpose when marrying their daughters; in terms of marriage, Fu Zhiyu was really not as good as Consort Xue¡¯s two sons, or even as the young Fu Yanxi and Fu Yanran. That was what Fu Zhiyu wanted, and he was glad to see the result. The emperor was not interested in the families of low rank, but his favourite family, the Xie family, had a girl who was suitable for marriage, a young lady born from the main wife. But the girl had gone crazy, saying she had a lover and refused to marry Wang Zhao. She cried and promised to hang herself. Although the decision on marriage was not up to her, it wouldn¡¯t be good if the matter was too big. If the Xie girl really killed herself and the happy event turned into a funeral, the original intention to marry the Xie family would fail. Instead of a useful marriage it would become a feud, which would be more trouble. It was not that there were no other girls in the Xie family, but they were not from Xie Lin¡¯s line. Emperor Qingyuan took a closer look at the young ladies in the Xie clan, but to be honest, the Xie family was originally humble. It was Xie Lin who made the whole family rise. The rest of the people were useless and scheming. Xiao Jiu was simple-minded now. Emperor Qingyuan was afraid that if he would marry such a scheming woman, his harem would know no peace. In the end, he was unable to find a suitable woman in the huge capital. Emperor Qingyuan was also tired of this matter. He told Consort Yun that if there was no one suitable in the capital, after a while, there would be princesses from the four countries coming to Jilin, and it wouldn¡¯t be impossible to get married at that time. Fu Zhiyu: ¡°¡­He hasn¡¯t given up yet?¡± ¡°Just let him do it,¡± Consort Yun said helplessly. ¡°If you don¡¯t want to, you can always find a reason. He thinks a lot about it, and he won¡¯t ask you to marry someone casually.¡± In addition to the forced marriage, Xie Ke¡¯s annoyance level was also high. Or maybe it had something to do with the progress of Fu Zhiyu¡¯s marriage. Fu Zhiyu had also heard about the young lady in the Xie family. She was fine at first, but then she suddenly became like this, as if¡­ she had been threatened by someone. General Zhenyuan¡¯s residence was just across the street, and Xie Ke¡¯s number of over-the-wall trips was increasing day by day, both at night and during the day. Advertisements He was even used to Rongrong coming up to bite him, and there was no way that Xie Ke, with his physical strength, couldn¡¯t even beat a wolfdog! Even if he turned over the wall halfway and met Yuan Mingdao, he wasn¡¯t afraid. Fu Zhiyu also saw them fight once. After all, Mingdao was still young, and Xie Ke took his scimitar away in a few moves. ¡°Practice a few more years, kid,¡± Xie Ke said, ¡°You can¡¯t beat me now.¡± Yuan Mingdao was furious; but Xie Ke was only able to show off his strength for a short while. As soon as he approached Fu Zhiyu, his treatment was nowhere as good as Yuan Mingdao¡¯s. The shadow guards were watching the residence of Wang Zhao. Xie Ke knew that Fu Zhiyu was calling those concubines just to watch them dance and play music. He was just creating an impression for the outside, so that he could push off his marriage. He had never stayed overnight with them. But it was one thing to know, and the feeling after seeing it was another thing. Jealous, jealous, but helpless. Xie Ke couldn¡¯t help but feel sour, but he really didn¡¯t dare to show his temper in front of Fu Zhiyu. Now he was trying to control Rongrong who was about to bite him, while leaning to Fu Zhiyu and saying bitterly: ¡°I also know how to play many musical instruments, what does Zhiyu want to hear? I will play anything for you.¡± Fu Zhiyu beckoned to Rongrong to come over, soothingly touched Rongrong¡¯s ears without looking at Xie Ke, and said, ¡°I don¡¯t want any.¡± Who knows where Xie Ke had learned it from but now he was like a dog plaster. Even Fu Zhiyu was intimidated by his stalking attitude. He couldn¡¯t drive him away, so he let him be. The main reason was that if he really put his mind to the task of driving Xie Ke away, he wouldn¡¯t have time to do anything else. Because of the serious injury suffered last time, Xie Ke kept telling the emperor that he wasn¡¯t well and needed to rest for a while. The general¡¯s health was a big deal, and besides, there was no war recently, so Emperor Qingyuan was naturally willing to accommodate him. Therefore, this newest member of the court had a lot of free time to pester the person he wanted to pester. However, Xie Ke also seemed to be afraid that Fu Zhiyu would be angry and didn¡¯t dare to go too far in many things. He was slowly infiltrating, starting with the trivial things of clothing, food, housing and transportation, trying to make Fu Zhiyu fall into his web imperceptibly. But Fu Zhiyu wasn¡¯t unaware. He even received a warning from the outside. This warning actually came from Shen Yang, the head of the Ministry of Justice. Fu Zhiyu paid attention to the dynamics of the court from time to time and could see some secret waves. Shen Yang and Xie Ke clearly cooperated in some aspects, but Shen Yang seized the opportunity to come to him three or four times and remind him over and over again that Xie Ke was very dangerous and was not a good person, don¡¯t be deceived by him. ¡°Wang Zhao, don¡¯t be blinded by appearances. Xie Ke seems to be very good to you at the moment. That¡¯s because he has an agenda,¡± Shen Yang said righteously, ¡°But I¡¯m different. I will protect you for the rest of my life.¡± Fu Zhiyu: ¡°¡­¡­¡± Do you believe this yourself? The two of you are the same, so don¡¯t try to step on each other. Every time he faced Shen Yang, he ran quickly; he couldn¡¯t afford to provoke him but he could hide. Anyway, Shen Yang wasn¡¯t as powerful as Xie Ke. If Fu Zhiyu wanted to avoid him, he could. Perhaps because of this lack of communication, Shen Yang never seemed to guess that he was also reborn. The days passed like this. In general, of course, it wasn¡¯t as tranquil as the period when Xie Ke went to war. But Fu Zhiyu¡¯s heart was calm and he wouldn¡¯t be disturbed too much because of other people¡¯s actions, so he thought it was fine. These days, the speed of information exchange was slow, and it took a long time to discuss everything remotely, not to mention an event like the gathering of the four countries in Jilin. The dates were carefully selected, and there were more and more preparations. This way Fu Zhiyu spent a cool summer. Early autumn, when the leaves on the trees turned yellow, the envoys of the four countries finally arrived. The official road was full of people watching the show. The Chen and the Jing processions were nothing to look at. The style was in the same line as Jilin¡¯s. It was mainly barbarians and the Western Regions that interested people. Let alone the caravans, the people were different, so it was fresh and lively to look at them. The people from the ancient countries of the Western Regions were the same as Yuan Mingdao. Their eye colour and hair colour were not black as those of the people in the Central Plains. Their carriages were often decorated with light gauze, their pants were wide, their facial features were deep, and the people were more open than those of Jilin. As for the barbarians, all of them rode horses, dressed in riding clothes, tall and dark-skinned, really interesting to look at. Fu Zhiyu had been very bored recently. Anyway, Xie Ke was called to greet the ambassadors today. Fu Zhiyu was so happy that he took Mingdao and booked a private window room in the Fengyue House. When he saw the procession from the Western Regions, Fu Zhiyu couldn¡¯t help but ask: ¡°Mingdao, haven¡¯t you thought about going back?¡± Yuan Mingdao gave him a puzzled look and said, ¡°Why should I go back? I don¡¯t have a home there, my home is where Master is.¡± Fu Zhiyu rubbed his head, not knowing how to answer, finally sighed lightly and said, ¡°I will always treat Mingdao well.¡± ¡°I will treat Master well too,¡± Yuan Mingdao smiled at him. Then he seemed to think of something again, his face darkened suddenly, and he touched the half-moon scimitar hanging from his waist. ¡°Xie Ke, this old thief, keeps talking nonsense, and keeps disturbing Master!¡± He said bitterly, ¡°Bullying me for being young! When I finish my martial arts training, I will definitely skin him with my own hands!¡± New hatred and old hatred combined, and he and Xie Ke were even more at odds in this life. CH 50 There was a reason for the long preparation time. The caravan of each country was particularly long, with many people and many things. Indeed, as Emperor Qingyuan said, all countries had brought their female relatives over. At this moment, the caravan from the Western Regions was passing by, and the sound of the hoofs of the barbarian horses was getting closer. Fu Zhiyu glanced down, just in time to see King Xidan riding in the middle. Fu Zhiyu had seen King Xidan in his previous life. After all, he had been on the battlefield during the Qianyuan Battle. King Xidan¡¯s full name was very long. ¡°Xidan¡± was just the last part of his name. According to the rules of the barbarians, it had become a concise title, and the outside world called him King Xidan. He was a vicious person, a fighting madman and an infantile maniac to boot. In the original, he was the number one boss. Unlike Fu Zhiyu, who left the scene after one-fifth of the plot, King Xidan was considered the last hurdle in Xie Ke¡¯s unification of the continent. The ending wasn¡¯t bad. Afterwards, King Xidan bowed his head to Xie Ke in defeat and became one of Xie Ke¡¯s subjects. However, now that the Qianyuan Battle had been brought forward, the ending of the battle was very different from the previous life. It was no longer that Jilin won by a small margin. King Xidan was beaten to the ground by Xie Ke and almost had no power to fight back, nearly losing his life. The plot of the original book, where they had been in a stalemate for a long time, probably wouldn¡¯t exist anymore. Who knows if it was a coincidence but when Fu Zhiyu looked down from the window, King Xidan, who was looking around, suddenly raised his head and glanced in his direction. The eyes of the two happened to meet. Fu Zhiyu frowned and quickly looked away. King Xidan¡¯s appearance was as evil as his character. He had a pair of narrow and long phoenix eyes, and there was a red mole under his right eye. It wasn¡¯t big, like a drop of blood, or like a cluster of flames, and it made him look even more vicious. Although Fu Zhiyu quickly looked away and pulled back, and it was impossible for King Xidan, who was riding a horse on the street below, to see him from this angle, he kept looking up, staring at the window intently until the horse procession walked around the corner. Only when the window of the Fengyue House was no longer visible did he withdraw his gaze. King Xidan was followed by his confidant, Qiu Liang, the commander of the barbarian cavalry. He also noticed that King Xidan¡¯s movements were somewhat strange, so he asked, ¡°What is the king looking at?¡± ¡°I saw a man,¡± the corner of King Xidan¡¯s mouth curled into a meaningful smile. ¡°I have seen him before. What I saw at Xie Ke¡¯s place was a very small portrait, just the size of a palm. I don¡¯t know what material it was made of but it was extremely realistic. Just now, I saw him and he was even more beautiful in person. If it were me, I¡¯m afraid I¡¯d be thinking about him too.¡± Qiu Liang frowned. He had a shadow left by Xie Ke, and he didn¡¯t know how to answer the above words for a while. Advertisements ¡°Isn¡¯t it very interesting? That small portrait was placed by Xie Ke in his most intimate clothes. He had sewed a pocket on the chest of his shirt and put it close to his heart.¡± King Xidan didn¡¯t care about Qiu Liang and spoke to himself in a curious tone, ¡°Some soldiers do this. It¡¯s usually their parents and children, or more often their beloved, and the Young General Xie, who is fearless and omnipotent, put a portrait of a man there. It turns out that he also has weaknesses.¡± ¡°The king wants to¡­?¡± Xidan knew when he looked at Qiu Liang¡¯s eyes that he was thinking too much, shook his head and said, ¡°This is someone else¡¯s territory. We can¡¯t even defeat Xie Ke in our own place. Do you dare to touch his reverse scale here(1)? I¡¯d like to go back in one piece. You have to be self-aware to survive. I¡¯m not that reckless.¡± ¡°However,¡± he changed his tune after that, ¡°I¡¯m just curious to join the fun, isn¡¯t that okay?¡± After the envoys of the four countries stayed in their respective residences, they rested for a while, and Emperor Qingyuan set up a banquet in the palace the next night. It was on this occasion that Fu Zhiyu met King Xidan for the second time. When the master of ceremonies introduced him as Wang Zhao, Fu Zhiyu saw a very obvious change in Xidan¡¯s eyes. ¡°I have heard so much about Wang Zhao for a long time, I am honoured.¡± Xidan deliberately came forward and clinked his glass with Fu Zhiyu, ¡°I thought I had a glimpse of an extremely graceful nobleman in the Fengyue House, but it turned out to be the famous Wang Zhao.¡± Fu Zhiyu frowned: ¡°Do you know me?¡± ¡°Wang Zhao is a great talent in poetry and painting. In the barbarian palace there is still a painting of snow plums you painted. How could I not know you?¡± King Xidan had a shallow smile on his face and stepped forward again, ¡°I see today that you¡¯re really different from us rough people. I wonder if Wang Zhao can give this king some face and have a few drinks with me?¡± Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t expect this man to pester him. What kind of poetry and paintings did King Xidan, a fighting madman, know? It was just an excuse, what did he plan to do? Fu Zhiyu opened his mouth, but before he could refuse, a voice came from behind. ¡°Wang Zhao is not strong enough to drink, why don¡¯t you let this general drink with you for him?¡± Advertisements It was Xie Ke. He held a wine glass in his hand and walked up to Fu Zhiyu¡¯s side. The warning in his eyes staring at King Xidan was extremely obvious. I haven¡¯t done anything yet, but he is already anxious¡­ The smile on King Xidan¡¯s face remained unchanged, but the thoughts in his heart turned around several times. However, he also had a sense of proportion, knowing that Xie Ke was someone he couldn¡¯t go head-to-head with. After saluting, he walked away and was taken by the master of ceremonies to deal with other people. ¡°Baby, you have to be careful with him. King Xidan is looking for you for some reason, he must have an agenda.¡± Xie Ke was still uneasy after seeing Xidan leave; he turned around and repeatedly told Fu Zhiyu, ¡°If he really wants to do something, just bring me in. He won¡¯t dare to touch you.¡± Fu Zhiyu took a big step back, distancing himself from Xie Ke. Although the occasion was big and chaotic, it was nighttime and there were many lanterns hanging up. If someone had a wish to watch, this scene could be noticed. ¡°General Zhenyuan should also be more careful with his words.¡± Fu Zhiyu said, ¡°I have never had any dealings with you, General, and I have only just met King Xidan, so please be careful what you say.¡± ¡°Zhiyu¡­¡± Xie Ke was helpless and tried to stop him again, but Fu Zhiyu quickly avoided him. ¡°It is late at night and the dew is heavy. This wang is not feeling well. I have already sent someone to inform Father Emperor, so I¡¯ll retire now.¡± Fu Zhiyu estimated that it was about time and he wouldn¡¯t be too abrupt to leave. ¡°Young General Xie, have fun.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll see you off,¡± Xie Ke followed him closely. ¡°Recently, there have been many foreign envoys, and even some merchants followed them. It is very chaotic outside. Zhiyu, I will send you to the residence without disturbing you, okay?¡± Fu Zhiyu shook his head: ¡°No way.¡± But Xie Ke didn¡¯t listen either. He followed Fu Zhiyu¡¯s carriage on a horse. After seeing him enter the residence, he stood in front of the gate for a long time before leaving. ¡°Why do I think he is much bolder than before?¡± Although Yuan Mingdao hated Xie Ke, he was not really a child and didn¡¯t let his momentary emotions affect his thinking, ¡°Because of the power he has now?¡± When Xie Ke was still an imperial guard in the palace, he would never dare to do such a thing in front of others, but now he didn¡¯t care about anything anymore. Let alone the emperor, even the common folk knew that General Zhenyuan had the best relationship with Wang Zhao. Rumours were it was because of the rescue of Wang Zhao back then that Xie Ke started rising step by step. The emperor didn¡¯t say anything either. He originally wanted Fu Zhiyu to marry the woman of the Xie family, but since he couldn¡¯t marry her, it was also fine to have a good relationship with Xie Ke. After listening to Yuan Mingdao¡¯s words, Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t shake his head or nod. He didn¡¯t stay at the banquet for nothing. Except for the overly active King Xidan, the rest of the people also had their own thoughts, and he saw them all. Although the Xue family¡¯s previous plans with the ancient countries of the Western Regions had failed and Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t know how the intermediary cavalry general negotiated this business, the two should have solved the past problems. The girl Fu Rongye was said to be marrying was also the daughter of the cavalry general, and the trend of cooperation between the two families had been set, even including the Lin family. The Lin family was blind before and chose King Xidan, who didn¡¯t play cards according to common sense. King Xidan went to toast cheerfully as if nothing had happened, but General Lin dared not drink this glass of wine. The Xue and Lin families were uniting all the forces that could be united. The emperor saw it but didn¡¯t panic. The net was spread and he was waiting to catch them all. These families had always refused to obey. Emperor Qingyuan was looking for an opportunity to truly grasp the ultimate power, beyond anyone¡¯s reach. So what if they united with the Western Regions? Their strength was not as good as that of the barbarians. If the barbarians could be defeated, the Western Regions were not a problem. Emperor Qingyuan wanted more than that. He looked at everything in front of him without a trace of panic, feeling that the winning ticket was in his hand. The Xie family was his greatest asset. The whole banquet seemed to be another celebration of the Xie family. It was not surprising that everyone went to Xie Ke to toast. The country of Chen, which Xie Ke had helped, naturally did the same, but Fu Zhiyu caught a glimpse of the Lord of Chen pulling Xie Ke aside and talking about something for a long time. The expression on his face was so kind as if Xie Ke was his own son. This reminded Fu Zhiyu of something else. Xie Ke and the Lord of Chen really had a relationship, a real blood relationship. In his previous life, Fu Zhiyu always wanted the piece of jade that Xie Ke was carrying. It was left to him by his dead mother and was a token of love for his future wife. Xie Ke had never given it to him, and even Miss Xue, who later married him, didn¡¯t get it. It wasn¡¯t until Fu Zhiyu had finished reading the whole book that he knew that Xie Ke¡¯s mother who died early was a plot twist. She was the daughter of the Lord of Chen who had been stranded by accident. That jade was the proof; Xie Ke was actually his grandson. Taking into account the blood ties, coupled with the grace of relieving the siege on the battlefield, it went without saying that the Lord of Chen¡¯s favorability of Xie Ke was very high. Although Chen was nominally a vassal state of Jilin, nominal was nominal and factual was factual. It was not that simple to completely turn the entire Chen country into Jilin¡¯s territory. With this relationship, a few years after Xie Ke ascended the throne of Jilin, the Lord of Chen saw that he had already gained a firm foothold, so he followed the trend and Chen gradually became Xie Ke¡¯s possession, a part of one empire in the Central Plains. Jing didn¡¯t last long under this scenario. Xie Ke unified the three states of the Central Plains without losing a single soldier. His ability to rule the world was excellent, and the people¡¯s lives became more peaceful and prosperous, so there were no complaints. In the previous life, it was when Xie Ke led his troops to support Chen in the Qianyuan Battle that the jade pendant played its role. Now, Fu Zhiyu looked at the expression of the Lord of Chen and guessed that this matter had been moved forward together with the war. Emperor Qingyuan only saw the Lin and Xue families fighting like two trapped beasts. He thought that Xie Ke was still young and manageable, but he didn¡¯t see that the ostensibly loyal subject was the one who was harbouring the greatest evil intentions. CH 51 The gathering of the four countries that had been planned for so long had many things to do. There were not only civil and military competitions but also various exchanges and performances. Not to mention the palace, the common folk also had a lot of fun in the recent days. Many caravans came with the envoys and set up small stalls in the market, selling all kinds of exotic things. Fu Zhiyu heard that the storyteller was telling a new story in the restaurant today. After the storyteller was tired, it was not the erhu player who replaced him this time. Instead, two girls came on stage, wearing Western costumes, with light gauze covering their faces, very stylish, and began to dance to the sound of drums. There was a plate of sweets in front of Fu Zhiyu that he had just bought. It tasted fruity and stuck to his teeth. He just bought it to try it, but it was a little too sweet. After a few bites, he stopped eating it. Fu Zhiyu had turned down all the invitations, big and small, but King Xidan personally came to his residence to see him after the banquet that night. Fu Zhiyu pretended to be unwell and put off the meeting. King Xidan persisted for two days. On the third day, both of his eyes were bruised. King Xidan said he hit himself by accident, but it looked like he was beaten by someone. But King Xidan didn¡¯t seem to be in a bad mood, and even with his eyes bruised he looked very happy and amiable. No one really thought he was an amiable person, though. A few days later, the martial arts competition was of archery skills from a hundred paces. Although it was under the name of friendly sparring, on such occasions, the best people from each country participated, very motivated in their hearts, and several generals from Jilin took part in it, as well as the Crown Prince Fu Lingxiao. He was not just a fancy archer. Apart from the almighty Xie Ke, there were not many people in the army who were better than him. He also showed good results in the competition. Three arrows were fired in a row, all of them hitting the bullseye. Without the unexpected King Xidan, Fu Lingxiao would have been the first in archery. King Xidan also fired three arrows and hit the bullseye. The result seemed to be not much better than Fu Lingxiao¡¯s, but there was only one difference. King Xidan was blindfolded when he shot the arrows. After this, the difference was clear. The barbarians were a race of horse riders, and archery was their natural skill. Fu Lingxiao was originally sure of himself, but after this event, his face turned black. Except for archery, Jilin still had the advantage in the other fields, losing less and winning more in the next few days. In the literary competition, Jilin¡¯s success was no less. Shen Yang was an indisputable leader. He seemed to be omnipotent and able to do anything. More importantly, his current aura as the head of the Ministry of Justice was overwhelming. Against him, the other participants of the discussion lost half of their power even before they spoke. Fu Yanran and Fu Yanxi, who were carefully cultivated by Emperor Qingyuan, also participated. Fu Yanxi¡¯s late grandfather, the previous Grand Master, was famous for his calligraphy. Fu Yanxi had studied since he was a child and had a bit of style. At his young age, he took the lead in the calligraphy competition. Moreover, this child read a lot and was nothing short of a bookworm. He quoted classics freely, and his results in the discussion were also good. Although Fu Yanran didn¡¯t receive such systematic training from the early age as Fu Yanxi, his training direction was a bit similar to Shen Yang¡¯s. He dabbled in everything. It seemed that his performance in every competition wasn¡¯t top-notch and could only be regarded as moderate, but he showed up seven or eight times in the literary and martial arts competitions. He didn¡¯t attract much attention, but interested people who knew about his experience understood that being able to practise like this in such a short period of time completely from scratch was not easy. Given time, it was not impossible for him to surpass the princes born before him. Advertisements Fu Rongye¡¯s chess skills were good; he won by a small margin and took first place. Even Fu Rongli had his own achievements, unlocking the nine exquisite locks sent by the ancient countries of the Western Regions. As the host country, Jilin was naturally prepared in all aspects. Now with these results, Emperor Qingyuan looked increasingly happy. A few of these competitions were really fun, and some of them were even open to spectators, under the banner of bringing joy to the people. It was very lively, and there was much discussion about it among the townsfolk. King Xidan also liked to wander around the city recently. Many people already knew him; some were curious and some were afraid. After observing for several days, he had already gotten to the bottom of some things he wanted to know, but only one person was beyond his expectation. ¡ªFu Zhiyu, Wang Zhao. King Xidan was a little absent-minded during the literary competition. First, he didn¡¯t understand it. Second, the culture of the Central Plains had a long history. Since the barbarians couldn¡¯t compare with Jilin in such things as qin, chess, calligraphy and painting, there was no suspense. But he also saw that the scholars on the stage were talented and knowledgeable, and the princes of Jilin were not bad either, but after walking around the market a few times, he heard different voices. ¡°If Wang Zhao were here, it would be much more beautiful than this.¡± ¡°These people, there are really few who can compare to how amazing Wang Zhao used to be.¡± ¡°Oh, Heaven is jealous of talents¡­¡± King Xidan originally thought that Fu Zhiyu was just a beauty of noble birth. If there was anything special about him, it was probably that he was very good-looking. But no wonder that the person Xie Ke liked so much was not just about looks. What he didn¡¯t expect was that this person wasn¡¯t only famous, but there also were many stories about him, as if he was the white moonlight in the hearts of all Jilin¡¯s scholars. After Xidan inquired about the various things that happened to Fu Zhiyu, his interest became stronger, especially since he had been to the residence of Wang Zhao a few times and didn¡¯t even see Fu Zhiyu¡¯s face, but was beaten by Xie Ke instead. Rumours clearly said that there were numerous beautiful concubines in Wang Zhao¡¯s residence and that he raised a beautiful boy since the child was little, treating him like a treasure. How Xie Ke could endure it was another mystery. Perhaps it was because the eyes of a bystander were clear, King Xidan didn¡¯t think Fu Zhiyu was really stupid. Wang Zhao had bright eyes and should be the kind of person who knew exactly what he was doing. Xidan also knew that Fu Zhiyu had come of age, and Emperor Qingyuan wanted to use this gathering to find him a suitable consort. King Xidan brought his own sister over. However, he still had a little brotherly love and didn¡¯t let his sister poke Xie Ke¡¯s reverse scale. Anyway, what Emperor Qingyuan wanted most was the eldest daughter of the Lord of Jing. She was fifteen years old this year, was pretty and had a good character. Sooner or later, Jing would be in Jilin¡¯s pocket. Fu Zhiyu would never be able to take the throne, so it was nothing to marry him to a foreign princess as a consort, just to bring the countries closer. Advertisements Fu Zhiyu also knew what the emperor thought. He was arranged by Emperor Qingyuan to reluctantly meet the girl. The girl was a good girl, but she was a bit of a face-con. After meeting him, no matter how absent-minded Fu Zhiyu deliberately behaved in front of her, and regardless of how bad Wang Zhao was now in the rumours, she immediately told the Lord of Jing that she agreed to the marriage. Fu Zhiyu: ¡°¡­Think twice, ah, Princess.¡± How could the Lord of Jing be unwilling? After the Qianyuan Battle, Jing was a vassal state. Fu Zhiyu was favoured by the emperor. The Lord of Jing could see at a glance that although it was unlikely for him to inherit the throne, he was already the best choice. It happened that his daughter liked the man too, so it was a done deal. Fu Zhiyu felt a bit of a headache. There, they talked among themselves and settled the matter easily. Fortunately, Emperor Qingyuan still had some sense of propriety and didn¡¯t immediately issue a decree; anyway, the gathering of the four countries was still going on, and he could continue to observe if this marriage was suitable or not. But he began to do everything he could to find opportunities for the two of them to spend time together. Fu Zhiyu tried to escape several times, but he couldn¡¯t get away forever. The princess¡¯s name was Lin Miaotang. She was the Lord of Jing¡¯s daughter from the main wife. She had been pampered since childhood. She was really a good girl who didn¡¯t mind Fu Zhiyu¡¯s deliberate coldness towards her and just took it upon herself to be nice to him. Fu Zhiyu couldn¡¯t bear to hurt her. She always reminded him of Qiu Rong and also reminded him of himself who used to be full of enthusiasm in his previous life. Xie Ke also received a warning from Fu Zhiyu when he climbed over the wall of the residence: ¡°No hurting her, an innocent person, neither directly nor indirectly.¡± ¡°Okay,¡± Xie Ke smiled. His heart was sour but his face was still full of tenderness and he agreed instantly, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, you have asked, how can I go against your wish?¡± Fu Zhiyu looked at him suspiciously for a long time, not saying anything else. Xie Ke had pestered him enough, and when going back, he saw Yuan Mingdao again. ¡°Zhiyu is going to marry the princess, aren¡¯t you worried?¡± Xie Ke asked as he turned sideways, blocking the attacking scimitar. ¡°Why should I worry? Only a selfish person like you cares about it,¡± Yuan Mingdao quickly pulled the scimitar back and sneered, ¡°Master can do whatever he wants, as long as he is happy. Besides, it has nothing to do with you anyway. I persuaded him to marry a consort in my previous life. I just hope he doesn¡¯t care about you. The princess is at least 10,000 times better than you, a psychopath.¡± Xie Ke sighed and said nothing more. He took a step back, having no intention of fighting Yuan Mingdao again. He quickly returned to his residence across the road. It was late now, and there was someone waiting for him in the mansion. Seeing him coming in, Shen Yang narrowed his eyes and said, ¡°Why did you go to disturb Zhiyu again?¡± ¡°You are jealous,¡± Xie Ke glanced at him, ¡°If it weren¡¯t for you not being able to get in, you wouldn¡¯t be much better than me, right? Don¡¯t worry, I won¡¯t let you in.¡± Shen Yang didn¡¯t comment. He now brought his own tea to General Zhenyuan¡¯s residence. After all, Xie Ke would only give him the tea dregs. ¡°We also need to speed up,¡± he took a sip of tea slowly and began to talk about his plans, ¡°The daughter of the Lord of Jing, he can¡¯t think of her.¡± Shen Yang also seemed to be very dissatisfied with this marriage. After a while, he frowned and complained: ¡°Even if Zhiyu had not married in his previous life, who would he have married? If the accident hadn¡¯t happened, who would have been able to compete with him for the position of the future emperor now? The princess of Jing can be a concubine, but she is not a consort. Is Fu Qingyan crazy? How can he trample on his own son like that?¡± Shen Yang was different from Yuan Mingdao. He lived to be in his sixties in his previous life. He was an old man in his heart. He didn¡¯t have Yuan Mingdao¡¯s youthful mentality. After being reborn, his guilt for Fu Zhiyu gradually transformed into another kind of feeling. Although this metaphor was not appropriate, he was probably like an old father who doted on his son and felt that no one was good enough for his brilliant child. CH 52 Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t know what others thought, but he found that when he didn¡¯t like Xie Ke, his romantic life was very vigorous. Needless to say, the six concubines in his residence were extremely obedient and always ready to please him. The steward also told Fu Zhiyu that they said behind his back that their master was very good to serve and that they were now much better off than before and wished to stay here forever. Like Lu Jian, they were all people with difficult fates. After all, since they had met each other, he could help a little bit. Fu Zhiyu had given them some silver and even invited a teacher to come to the mansion. It was always good for people to study, at least to keep them from being stuck in the harem. When he left, they wouldn¡¯t be reduced to the same situation as before. Outside, there was Princess Miaotang. The girl¡¯s heart was full of courage, and she was also very bold in this matter, not hiding her affection at all. It was not that no one liked Fu Zhiyu in his previous life, but he had a clear goal at that time. When he met others, he refused, and he would never involve people when there was no hope for them. But he was different now. Although he directly told Emperor Qingyuan that he didn¡¯t want to marry and he also euphemistically expressed his rejection to the young girl, Emperor Qingyuan always felt that young people would get along well, and he wouldn¡¯t dispel the idea of political marriage just because Fu Zhiyu said he didn¡¯t like it. Lin Miaotang was even more stubborn and didn¡¯t seem to plan to give up. Fu Zhiyu really had never dealt with such a young girl before. After all, he was a man who had lived a lifetime. He felt that his mind was too heavy, and he and this young girl were like people from different worlds. He had never considered the possibility of them being together, and he was a bit afraid that he would hurt an innocent person, so he had to do his best to avoid her. After the civil and military competitions, the dynamic program wasn¡¯t over, and the autumn hunt followed. Fu Zhiyu was forced by Emperor Qingyuan to cultivate his feelings with Lin Miaotang. He felt very helpless. He had already begun to seriously consider whether to pretend to be sick again, or simply to create a reputation for himself of someone who wouldn¡¯t live long. Anyway, he didn¡¯t care what rumours spread about him now. Lin Miaotang was very excited, but Fu Zhiyu pretended that he was in bad health and couldn¡¯t bear the autumn wind and cold, so he hid in the tent and didn¡¯t go out. Then Lin Miaotang deliberately came to visit him. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, don¡¯t worry.¡± She looked at Fu Zhiyu¡¯s face, reassuring and a little shy, ¡°Have a good rest here. I have also learned archery from the master in the palace, and I have shot a big deer at home. When I go out today, I will shoot some turtledoves to stew them in soup to nourish your body.¡± Fu Zhiyu smiled distantly and said, looking weak: ¡°No need to bother, Princess, this wang has an old problem, ahem. My health has always been bad, I¡¯m sick and disaster-prone. I¡¯m no good.¡± He said this with the intention of making Lin Miaotang deeply understand that he had a bad temper and was not in good health. Since he was really sick and might not live long, he was really not a good match. But when she heard it, she looked distressed. ¡°It¡¯s okay, I¡¯m in good health. When I was a child, the Grand Master counted my horoscope and said that I was a natural blessing star. Really, I have never been sick since I was a child.¡± She was a little ashamed when she said this, and her voice was a little lower. ¡°When I¡­ get married, I will give you half of my blessing, so you won¡¯t get sick often.¡± Fu Zhiyu was taken aback and couldn¡¯t answer. Lin Miaotang seemed to feel that it was too bold for an unmarried young lady to say such things, and the more she thought about it, the more embarrassed she felt, so she turned and ran away. What a kind young girl. Advertisements Fu Zhiyu sighed, knocked himself on the head, and said to himself: ¡°With so many good people in this world, why did I have a crush on Xie Ke in my previous life? It¡¯s really¡­¡± It was probably the persistent blindness caused by the temporary life-saving grace. Fortunately, he could see clearly now. Fu Zhiyu also brought Mingdao. This hunting ground was very large and Yuan Mingdao happened to have nothing to do recently. He had been staying in the residence to practise martial arts but he had no chance to use his skills. Fu Zhiyu gave him the token of Wang Zhao, asked him to wear protective armour and told him to be careful when he went out to play. ¡°I¡¯ll hunt a fox for the Master and come back. It can be made into a shawl for when it¡¯s cold.¡± Yuan Mingdao moved his joints, not forgetting to take care of Fu Zhiyu before leaving. ¡°Master, have a good rest in the camp, I will be back in a while.¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay, there are guards outside. I told them that I am not feeling well and about to fall asleep, so I won¡¯t see anyone,¡± Fu Zhiyu stroked Mingdao¡¯s head. ¡°This place is heavily guarded, nothing will happen. Don¡¯t go too far either, come back quickly.¡± ¡°En!¡± It just so happened that Xie Ke wasn¡¯t there either. He was ordered by the emperor to accompany him during the hunt. According to Emperor Qingyuan¡¯s habit, he wouldn¡¯t come back until the evening, and Fu Zhiyu was really going to get some peace and quiet. The people who came here to hunt were all motivated to come back with more prey, and only Fu Zhiyu was so apathetic that he really didn¡¯t go out of the tent for a whole day. The air in the mountains was good. He originally said that he wasn¡¯t well and used the need to rest as an excuse. As a result, he fell asleep while lying on a couch reading a book. This sleep lasted until the evening. Fu Zhiyu was awakened when he heard the sound of cheering outside. Someone had hunted a big wild boar, slaughtered it on the spot and now it was being roasted for eating. Emperor Qingyuan and his party also came back, with a lot of prey. It was lively outside, and Fu Zhiyu couldn¡¯t sleep anymore. After a while, a young eunuch came to deliver a message, saying that Wang Zhao would be invited to the table to eat something to warm his stomach. The mountains were not like the capital and the hunting environment wasn¡¯t as refined. The place to sit was a layer of mats and carpets on the ground, with a bit more exquisite cushions placed over them. Even the seat of Emperor Qingyuan was nothing more than an extra layer of soft fur. Basically, they sat on the ground and also had no bowls, just taking large washed leaves to eat the meat from them. But all the generals were present, and they didn¡¯t think there was anything wrong with that. Emperor Qingyuan also thought it was good, and he seemed to be more casual and happy than usual. Fu Zhiyu sat by the campfire and lowered his head to eat a few slices of venison. The freshly roasted venison was extremely tender and delicious, but he was a little absent-minded. Where did Mingdao go? He shouldn¡¯t have followed the big group, but now it was late, he should have been back by now. Fu Zhiyu guessed that he was probably called by Emperor Qingyuan when Mingdao came back, so they just missed each other. Now it was time for the various hunting teams to compare their prey and roast it on the spot. The whole place was in a mess. Mingdao should be found in a while, right? The reason why he didn¡¯t immediately worry about Mingdao¡¯s safety was that Mingdao¡¯s strength was enough to deal with most people here, and he had Fu Zhiyu¡¯s token on him, so no one should deliberately provoke him. Second, this was the imperial hunting ground. Many places were guarded by soldiers, and the chance of an accident was very small. He was thinking of Yuan Mingdao absent-mindedly, while someone was looking at his profile in the light of the fire from the other side of the campfire. Advertisements Wang Zhao had just woken up from a nap and he hadn¡¯t participated in hunting. He wore a loose white robe, which glowed in the light of the campfire. He sat quietly on the cushion, surrounded by the generals who talked and laughed loudly, drinking and eating meat. He was like a rabbit who strayed into a pack of wolves by mistake. Fu Yanran took a bite of meat in silence. Fu Yanxi, who was a little embarrassed, sat beside him. ¡°I didn¡¯t hunt anything¡­¡± Fu Yanxi complained sadly and looked at his hand. There were a few small scratches on it. ¡°I don¡¯t know martial arts. This is the hand to hold the brush. I don¡¯t know what Father Emperor wants me to do, everyone has their own specialisation.¡± Fu Yanran didn¡¯t reply to him. Fu Yanxi glanced at him suspiciously, and then followed his gaze. ¡°Ah, you are looking at Ninth Brother,¡± Fu Yanxi also stared at Fu Zhiyu for a while, and then said with emotion, ¡°Ninth Brother is so beautiful. Look, there are so many princesses from the four countries, but none of them is as good-looking as our Ninth Brother.¡± ¡°En,¡± Fu Yanran nodded, agreeing with him, and after a while, he murmured, ¡°Apart from the good looks¡­¡± The next words were almost inaudible. ¡°What are you talking about?¡± Fu Yanxi asked. ¡°Nothing.¡± Fu Yanran said, ¡°I just think that I don¡¯t know who can get such a good-looking person as Ninth Brother in the future.¡± ¡°Ah? Isn¡¯t it Princess Miaotang of Jing? I have heard that when the gathering of four countries is over, they will be married.¡± Fu Yanran finally withdrew his eyes from Fu Zhiyu and glanced at Fu Yanxi with a complicated expression. ¡°Even if he remains pure like this forever, it is also a blessing,¡± he murmured. ¡°Sure enough, only those of us who are heavy-minded have to live hard.¡± Fu Yanxi really didn¡¯t understand. He blinked and looked at the Ninth Brother, and then at Fu Yanran with a confused expression on his face. Although he was two years older than Fu Yanran, he felt that Fu Yanran was like his elder brother recently, and sometimes he didn¡¯t understand what Fu Yanran said. On the other side, Fu Zhiyu was already waiting impatiently. He looked around for a long time but didn¡¯t see Yuan Mingdao¡¯s figure. It was completely dark now, with no sunlight at all. As soon as it was dark in the woods, it looked terrifying, and no one could know what danger was hidden inside. Even if he had just missed Mingdao when he left the tent, it had already been so long that even if Mingdao couldn¡¯t guess that he was called away by the emperor, the guards by the tent should have found him. He was sitting in the middle, so even if there were many people here, it wouldn¡¯t be difficult to find him. Fu Zhiyu couldn¡¯t sit still when he thought of this and stood up all of a sudden. At this very moment, he heard the questioning voice of the Lord of Jing. He seemed to be talking to the attendant next to him and seemed to be quite anxious, not lowering his voice ¡°Where did the princess go? Didn¡¯t I tell you to keep an eye on her? She is a girl, if something really happens to her here, I will have your head!¡± Was Lin Miaotang unexpectedly absent too? As the Princess of Jing, she must have followed a large group, with at least four guards arranged around her. As soon as Fu Zhiyu asked, he learned that although Lin Miaotang had been following a large group, when she chased the prey, she ran off somewhere. After a while, everyone was separated and naturally divided into small groups. The scene was chaotic. There were so many people and no one noticed someone missing for a while. Now everyone was back. After looking carefully, it was found that she was gone. Mingdao didn¡¯t come back either. Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t care if this was a coincidence or not. For the first time since he was reborn, his mood fluctuated so violently that his whole face darkened. ¡°Lord, take your men and prepare to go into the mountains to search,¡± he said. ¡°I will now go and ask His Majesty to issue a decree to find them immediately.¡± CH 53 Jilin arranged this gathering. On the surface, everything was still peaceful, and no one wanted anything unpleasant to happen in the process, not to mention that it was a princess who was going to be married to Wang Zhao. After hearing the news, Emperor Qingyuan got serious and immediately mobilised two teams of soldiers with torches to go to the woods to look for people. But Fu Zhiyu knew that these two teams of soldiers plus Jing¡¯s team were mainly for the sake of Lin Miaotang. Mingdao was only incidental. Although he was a person by Fu Zhiyu¡¯s side, and he also emphasised the importance of Mingdao in front of the emperor, no one would really listen. After all, Mingdao now had no official status worthy of their special attention. He had to find Mingdao himself. Fu Zhiyu returned to the camp, quickly changed into a lighter set of clothes, took a torch, thought for a while, and went in one direction. He still remembered that Mingdao said before leaving that he was going to hunt a fox. He had been to this hunting ground several times in his previous life, and he knew where there were more foxes, so he was likely to go in that direction. Before Fu Zhiyu had gone far, he heard someone calling his name from behind. As soon as he heard it, he knew it was Xie Ke, so he didn¡¯t look back and kept walking forward. ¡°Zhiyu,¡± Xie Ke seemed to have arrived in a hurry, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ve also asked the Shadows to look for him. In addition to the Shadows, there are¡­¡± After hearing these words, Fu Zhiyu suddenly turned his head and stared at Xie Ke for a while. Xie Ke stopped talking at once. He could see that Fu Zhiyu¡¯s eyes were not friendly. The look of defensiveness and scrutiny made his heart sink. ¡°Will you help me find him?¡± Fu Zhiyu said; his heart was anxious and his tone was slightly sarcastic, ¡°Xie Ke, did you do it on purpose?¡± Xie Ke felt as if his heart was gripped by a hand, and he was choking and uncomfortable. He looked directly into Fu Zhiyu¡¯s eyes, and his voice trembled uncontrollably: ¡°Zhiyu, do you think I did it?¡± For the first time, he felt powerless, as if no matter what he did, Zhiyu felt that he was pretending and lying to him. He was going round and round in circles, no longer able to get close to Zhiyu¡¯s heart. ¡°I really didn¡¯t,¡± Xie Ke tried to explain. ¡°I know that Yuan Mingdao is someone you care about. I wouldn¡¯t hurt him, Zhiyu, nor would I hurt Lin Miaotang. She is such a young girl, I am jealous, yes, but you said not to touch her, and I wouldn¡¯t touch her, I wouldn¡¯t¡­ make you unhappy again. Zhiyu, I¡¯m trying to change. I know what you hate, and I won¡¯t do it again. Just trust me once, okay?¡± Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t answer. He avoided Xie Ke¡¯s eyes, turned around and went on his way. Xie Ke quickly followed and put a cloak on him. ¡°The weather is cold and the wind is strong at night,¡± he said carefully. ¡°Looking for someone is one thing, you shouldn¡¯t get sick either.¡± Fu Zhiyu ignored him. He was carefully identifying the paths in the mountains and trying to determine the direction. The last time he came here was also in his previous life. He didn¡¯t remember many places very clearly. Xie Ke helped guide the way, while catching the moment to start talking again: ¡°Zhiyu, you know about the Shadow. I gave you the ring back then. I wanted to give you all this organisation. Having them can come in handy at a time like this. But you returned the ring and refused to accept it¡­ Zhiyu, I swear I will do a real handover this time. They will only listen to you in the future, and I will never interfere again, okay?¡± ¡°No,¡± Fu Zhiyu said, ¡°Shut up.¡± Xie Ke wasn¡¯t afraid of anything but he was afraid of him, so he shut up on the spot and followed him quietly. Advertisements The sound of beasts howling from a distance in the woods made Fu Zhiyu even more worried about Mingdao¡¯s safety. Xie Ke really wanted to help him at this time, and he really didn¡¯t do anything to harm Yuan Mingdao and Lin Miaotang. Yuan Mingdao often stayed with Fu Zhiyu and because of Zhiyu¡¯s special disorder function, Xie Ke hadn¡¯t used any surveillance type props on him during this time. And none of his remaining props were for finding people, so Xie Ke really didn¡¯t know where Mingdao was. They could only rely on human resources to find him. Fu Zhiyu spent the whole night like this; his eyes were red but he was still searching. Xie Ke felt sorry for him, but he also knew that he couldn¡¯t stop him. Zhiyu wouldn¡¯t stop until he found Yuan Mingdao, so he could only do his best to help him. When it was dawn, the shadow guards sent a message, saying that the emperor¡¯s team had been searching all night and had not found anyone. Now they were questioning who saw the princess last, but the hunting ground was too chaotic, and not many people noticed her. There was no result in asking around. The woods were too big, and if they continued to search aimlessly, who could know when they would find her or Mingdao. Fu Zhiyu wondered if Mingdao had encountered something and was hiding in one place, or was he walking around? He was inclined towards the former. If Mingdao was able to walk, last night was cloudless and he could see the stars. It wasn¡¯t difficult to rely on them to judge the direction and he could find his way back. If it had been some kind of accident, like getting lost, that was fine; Fu Zhiyu was worried that someone was behind it, deliberately harming people. He began to walk a more remote path, paying attention to the steep mountain cliffs, until by a small stream he picked up the waist token he had given to Mingdao. There was blood on the token. Fu Zhiyu looked down and soon saw spots of blood on some stones in front of him. His heart tightened, and he followed the blood trail ahead until he reached the edge of the cliff and there was no way further. The stream turned into a swift waterfall here. Fu Zhiyu looked down. It wasn¡¯t too high. He was thinking of a way to go down. Advertisements ¡°Let me carry you down,¡± Xie Ke said. ¡°Zhiyu, strength is not enough here, you need skills. You haven¡¯t practised martial arts much. It¡¯s a bit difficult to go down by yourself. You don¡¯t want to get hurt before you find Mingdao, right?¡± Fu Zhiyu looked at him in silence, and Xie Ke once again received his familiar expression of distrust. ¡°Zhiyu¡­¡± He didn¡¯t know how to explain, ¡°I just want to help you, really.¡± A night had passed since Mingdao¡¯s disappearance, and Fu Zhiyu¡¯s heart was already troubled; he thought about it, and there was really no need to delay Mingdao¡¯s safety for the sake of his own momentary mood. Xie Ke moved quickly, and after carefully picking Fu Zhiyu up on his back, he drew a dagger from his waist. The cliffside was slick with water vapour and many rocks were mossy; it didn¡¯t matter if he fell, but he was carrying Zhiyu on his back, so it was impossible to be careless. The dagger was sharp, and when it was inserted into the stone, it was at least a point of contact. Xie Ke went down carefully and quickly, and in a short while he wasn¡¯t far from the ground, but the weight of two people was too heavy, and when the stone under his foot loosened, Xie Ke knew he was about to fall. He reacted in an instant, turning around, and fell to the ground first. Fortunately, Fu Zhiyu fell on him and was fine. Below were dead branches and fallen leaves, and the place where he fell was no more than a few metres from the ground. Nothing happened to Xie Ke, except that his elbow was wrenched when it hit the ground. ¡°It¡¯s just dislocated,¡± he looked at it and then smiled at Fu Zhiyu, ¡°It¡¯s okay.¡± The dislocation was not serious, it was really okay, just find a doctor to put it back later. This pain was nothing compared to the one before. Fu Zhiyu hesitated for a moment and said, ¡°Ask the shadow guard to take you back.¡± ¡°I¡¯m really fine,¡± Xie Ke said quickly, ¡°I have to find Yuan Mingdao before leaving anyway. I don¡¯t feel comfortable if you are here alone.¡± Fu Zhiyu was about to say something next, but heard a faint voice: ¡°¡­Master, is that you?¡± It was Mingdao! Startled, he ran in the direction of the sound, and found Yuan Mingdao in a cave. Xie Ke, who was quickly left behind, smiled bitterly, pressed his arm and followed. ¡°The princess is here too,¡± Yuan Mingdao said. After he saw Fu Zhiyu, he obviously relaxed a lot. ¡°They wanted to kill me. The princess happened to recognise me and saw that I was injured. She came to help me, and we were in trouble together.¡± Fu Zhiyu examined him carefully and breathed a sigh of relief. Yuan Mingdao¡¯s injuries were not too serious; there were wounds on his arms and back but they didn¡¯t hurt the vital points. The wounds had been simply bandaged by the strips of cloth torn off his clothes. The princess had some minor injuries, but she had probably fallen into the water during the escape. It was easy to catch a cold in such weather. She was burning and in a dazed sleep in the corner of the cave. ¡°I hid here, not daring to go out again at night. There were too many of them and I was afraid I¡¯d run into them again if I went out.¡± Yuan Mingdao said, his eyes fixed on Fu Zhiyu, ¡°I knew Master would find me.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s go back to heal your injuries first,¡± Fu Zhiyu said. He put Yuan Mingdao on his back, but he hesitated about the princess. If Lin Miaotang was brought back directly like this, the two of them wouldn¡¯t be able to explain it. Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t care about gossip, but he cared about Lin Miaotang. Since he didn¡¯t want to marry her, he couldn¡¯t ruin the princess¡¯s reputation at this time. Xie Ke knew what he was thinking at a glance, and he didn¡¯t want Fu Zhiyu to really have anything to do with this girl, so he was going to help him plan. ¡°I¡¯ll ask my people to send the princess back and say that the people from my side found her,¡± Xie Ke volunteered. ¡°I don¡¯t know why Mingdao was hunted down, but it¡¯s too unreasonable for you to take both of them back directly like this.¡± The fact that several teams from Jilin and Jing were looking for them and didn¡¯t find them, but instead Fu Zhiyu, an idle prince with no brains and no martial arts training, found them single-handedly, was impossible not to make people suspicious. ¡°So be it,¡± Fu Zhiyu made a quick decision, ¡°She is still suffering from a fever, so ask the imperial doctor to take care of her.¡± Yuan Mingdao breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the princess being sent away, and then tugged at the corner of Fu Zhiyu¡¯s clothes and whispered, ¡°Master, I can¡¯t go back.¡± ¡°Why?¡± Fu Zhiyu frowned, ¡°You are injured, you have to go back and get bandaged.¡± Yuan Mingdao shook his head and said, ¡°Master, you should have brought medicine with you, right? Just give it to me. I¡¯m not seriously injured and don¡¯t need a doctor.¡± Fu Zhiyu knew that Yuan Mingdao had something to say to him, and Xie Ke understood it too. He consciously took a few steps back, staying far away, and said, ¡°I won¡¯t listen, you guys talk.¡± Fu Zhiyu took a few more steps with Mingdao on his back, sat him gently on a big stone, and asked in a low voice, ¡°Who did this?¡± ¡°The Xue family, to be precise, the Xue and Lin family and the Western Regions,¡± Yuan Mingdao said. ¡°I went the wrong way when I was hunting a fox and heard something I shouldn¡¯t have heard.¡± CH 54 ¡°It¡¯s my fault for being careless,¡± Yuan Mingdao said, sitting on the stone and blaming himself again. ¡°Master was worried and had to accept Xie Ke¡¯s help against his will.¡± ¡°How can there be a reason to blame yourself for being harmed?¡± Fu Zhiyu checked his wounds while carefully applying the medicine. ¡°I was really anxious at that time. Regardless of whether it was Xie Ke or not, do you still have to worry about it being against your will or not while receiving help from others? Seriously, it wasn¡¯t against my will. After I get you back, I feel that everything else is nothing.¡± It really wasn¡¯t Xie Ke who made this happen. After such a long search, Fu Zhiyu knew it wasn¡¯t him. Xie Ke wouldn¡¯t need to drag it out for so long. ¡°It was also their fault that they were too careless,¡± Yuan Mingdao thought for a while, and felt aggrieved. ¡°It¡¯s not that I overheard them on purpose. Can¡¯t you discuss such a big matter behind closed doors? It was in the wild, I just happened to pass by and heard a few words, so they had to hunt me down. Is it my fault? There are all kinds of people in the world, really.¡± Fu Zhiyu frowned and guessed: ¡°If they wanted you dead, it was probably a treason, right?¡± ¡°Master is right,¡± Yuan Mingdao said. ¡°The princess didn¡¯t hear them. I met her on my way to escape. She is kind of innocently involved, so it¡¯s okay for her to go back. So many people watch, they won¡¯t kill them all. After all, the princess doesn¡¯t know anything. She didn¡¯t even know who the people who were chasing her were. In fact, the Xue family, even if I didn¡¯t say it, Master would have guessed it, right? It¡¯s not the first time they conspire with the Western Regions.¡± The matter of the Xue family¡¯s union with the ancient countries of the Western Regions was really only clarified by Xie Ke. In fact, the emperor was unaware at that time, distracted by the barbarians. Although there were some suspicions, he didn¡¯t guess anything, let alone have conclusive evidence. ¡°A thief¡¯s heart never dies (an idiom meaning that someone doesn¡¯t give up on evil intentions),¡± Fu Zhiyu said, ¡°Are they going to make a move?¡± Yuan Mingdao nodded and said, ¡°The Xie family is getting bigger and bigger. If this continues, the other families will be exterminated by the emperor. Now that there is still strength to resist and the people from the Western Regions have an excuse to be in Jilin, they are ready to move. They want to drug Emperor Qingyuan and force him to abdicate. After all, the Xie family only obeys the emperor now and doesn¡¯t have good relations with the Crown Prince. If the emperor dies, there is nothing the Xie family can do.¡± These two families still underestimated Xie Ke¡¯s ambitions and didn¡¯t know what a big surprise was waiting for them over there. Advertisements ¡°This is also an opportunity for us,¡± Fu Zhiyu pondered for a while and said, ¡°I¡¯m going back to talk to Mother Consort about this, and I have to send a message to the two uncles as soon as possible. Maybe we can take advantage of this chaos to escape.¡± He also immediately understood why Mingdao said he couldn¡¯t go back. He had shown his face in front of those people, and his identity was different from that of the princess. If he returned to the camp, he would inevitably be targeted. With Mingdao having such big news, they wouldn¡¯t rest until he was killed, and others might be dragged into it. ¡°Master, don¡¯t worry, I¡¯m not afraid,¡± Yuan Mingdao nestled in his arms and patted Fu Zhiyu on the back comfortingly. ¡°I¡¯m still waiting to leave here with the Master and go to Jiangnan. This little twist is nothing.¡± But Mingdao couldn¡¯t go back, and Fu Zhiyu had to find a place to house him. ¡°There are a few temples nearby, but you can¡¯t stay there for a long time. They will definitely look for you¡­¡± Fu Zhiyu suddenly had a flash of inspiration. He stuffed the waist token he picked up from the stream into Yuan Mingdao¡¯s hand and said, ¡°Mingdao, to the north of the hunting ground is Pingcheng County, where is a branch of the younger uncle¡¯s merchant house. I specifically mentioned to him back then that this token is a sign, and he informed all the branches, so that in case we have any accidents on the way out, we can find a place to meet. If you stay there, the merchant house will take care of you and send you to a safe place.¡± ¡°Okay,¡± Yuan Mingdao nodded. He was also decisive, knowing what his current situation was. He said, ¡°Then I will go now. Master, please be careful in everything.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not at ease, I¡¯ll send you there,¡± Fu Zhiyu touched his head and comforted, ¡°Now it¡¯s dawn, and there are more people searching. I¡¯m afraid they will meet you. I know the way here better.¡± Yuan Mingdao hesitated for a moment, then looked in the direction where Xie Ke was standing. ¡°¡­Do you think he doesn¡¯t know about the Xue and Lin families?¡± Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t look back; the expression on his face seemed to be a smile, ¡°It¡¯s just that you suddenly bumped into them, it was an accident.¡± Yuan Mingdao glanced at him, the worry on his face still evident. ¡°You go first and wait for me in Jiangnan,¡± Fu Zhiyu comforted, ¡°It is impossible to avoid him in this last stage. Leave it all to me. Mingdao must believe in me too. I won¡¯t leave you alone in Jiangnan.¡± Fu Zhiyu finally gave Yuan Mingdao a bottle of pills he had made and told him to remember to take them if he was injured, then turned and carried him on his back, walking in the direction of Pingcheng County. Advertisements Xie Ke waited in place for a while. His dislocated arm hurt more and more severely, but Zhiyu never came back. He didn¡¯t dare to disturb him. After waiting for a long time, he cautiously walked a few steps over there and found that the two people had disappeared. He became anxious in an instant and sent a signal to the Shadow, and soon Shadow Seven arrived. ¡°Zhiyu is gone, you follow this path to look for him, but don¡¯t let him see you,¡± Xie Ke carefully instructed, a little anxious, ¡°He shouldn¡¯t encounter those searching teams. If there are those people approaching, you should lure them away in advance, don¡¯t let them disturb Zhiyu. When he doesn¡¯t need you anymore, just come back.¡± When he saw Yuan Mingdao¡¯s appearance, he guessed that he was deliberately injured. In this place, there were not many forces who would dare to risk such a move, and he could guess who it was that could make Yuan Mingdao afraid to go back. They will all move in a few days, he thought. ¡°Master,¡± Shadow Seven hesitated before leaving, ¡°I will fix your arm before leaving.¡± ¡°Go quickly!¡± Xie Ke¡¯s voice deepened suddenly, ¡°Zhiyu is important, I don¡¯t need you to worry too much about me.¡± Shadow Seven obeyed and left. Since Yuan Mingdao and the princess had already been found, all the shadow guards who had gone out to find them returned to their positions. After a long time, Xie Ke¡¯s arm was finally fixed. His props were limited after all, and there was no need to spend them on such a minor matter as dislocation. But because of this, Xie Ke clearly felt what the system had told him before: his body didn¡¯t work too well since it was forcibly repaired last time. At least his arm wouldn¡¯t have been dislocated after a fall like this before. ¡°Let¡¯s go back,¡± Xie Ke glanced in the direction of Fu Zhiyu¡¯s departure, a little reluctant, ¡°I will annoy him, and there are more things to do back there. Leave all those people who made him worry like this to me.¡± Xie Ke knew he was really bad at courting people, acting almost recklessly and bluntly whenever he came across Zhiyu. He knew that it was annoying to do this when the other party already didn¡¯t have any affection for him, and he was gradually getting the hang of it in these constant helpless constant attempts. In fact, Zhiyu was really a very simple person. After not liking Xie Ke, he lived more objectively and sensibly than in his previous life. Take the Qianyuan Battle as an example. In fact, Xie Ke worked hard in it just to gain more power to protect Zhiyu. The Qianyuan Battle was a springboard for him. But he later discovered that even though the power he gained from it did make it easier for him to get closer to Zhiyu, none of the things he tried his best to send to Zhiyu made him happy. Zhiyu always had that indifferent and annoyed expression towards him. Most of the time, he treated him as a transparent person, and sometimes when he was in a bad mood, he would get so upset that no amount of coaxing would help. On the contrary, the Qianyuan Battle, which Xie Ke used as a springboard, became Zhiyu¡¯s only positive impression of him in this life. Because the war was shortened, Fu Zhiyu felt that the people had suffered less, so it was a good thing. After all, he had been an emperor, and he still had this feeling of concern about the country and the people in his heart. So, the Qianyuan Battle became the only thing Xie Ke did right in this life by accident. Xie Ke was someone who was used to being in the upper echelons. Not to mention that he was always playing the role of the protagonist, he was also on the top of the pyramid among the actors. Some domineering and self-righteous habits were engraved in his bones. Maybe sometimes he didn¡¯t even notice it himself, subconsciously making such choices. This kind of trait, decisive and strong, was very good when it came to the career, but when it came to feelings, especially in the face of such a cunning Fu Zhiyu, this trait of Xie Ke could only be counterproductive. He was really slow in this regard and found the crux of the problem too late. It was also for Zhiyu that he began to work hard to suppress the bad parts of his personality. For example, he hadn¡¯t made the shadow guards follow Zhiyu for a long time. Although Xie Ke knew that his intention was to protect Zhiyu from an accident, Zhiyu didn¡¯t like this, so he wouldn¡¯t do it. Not what he thought was good was good. He was also trying to show the best side of himself, or rather, the side that Zhiyu liked best, just like Zhiyu did in his previous life. Maybe, Zhiyu wouldn¡¯t resist him so much and would gradually feel that he wasn¡¯t that bad, right? People instinctively don¡¯t refuse what they want, but Zhiyu was really special. Once he was reborn, there were really few things that could be worthy of his attention. There were times when Xie Ke really didn¡¯t know what to do, but he seemed to have some understanding now. ¡ªDon¡¯t be an obstacle to Zhiyu. Fu Zhiyu avoided the searching teams all the way, took the back road and sent Mingdao to the northmost part of the hunting ground. Pingcheng County was right there, and the things on the merchant house¡¯s side also went smoothly. As soon as Fu Zhiyu took out his waist token, even before he said a word, the merchant house¡¯s owner saluted him as if he understood, and took him into the room in the back. ¡°Master must be careful about everything.¡± Although Yuan Mingdao wasn¡¯t at ease, he also knew that staying by his master¡¯s side now would only cause him disaster. After all, it was easy to avoid a shot in the open but an arrow in the dark was difficult to prevent. He kept staring at Fu Zhiyu, worried and reluctant, ¡°I will always be waiting for you.¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine, my two uncles and I have been preparing for this for a long time. There are also people in the capital. I¡¯m not that passive,¡± Fu Zhiyu comforted him and then carefully admonished, ¡°You have to be more careful on the road. Don¡¯t think too much. Just wait for me.¡± CH 55 After Fu Zhiyu had delivered Mingdao, it was already late. On the way back, he deliberately made a mess of himself a little bit. He saw someone looking for him in the woods, so he found a place to fall down. They found him ¡°just in time¡± and sent him back to the camp. Princess Miaotang was found, but the child raised by Wang Zhao wasn¡¯t found. It had been two nights, and everyone understood that there was little hope of finding him. After all, this was a hunting ground, and a child of this age might have been eaten by wolves with no bones left. Wang Zhao probably couldn¡¯t accept this fact. He had been pampering this child so much. After the child disappeared, Wang Zhao didn¡¯t even care about his body. He ran out to find the child alone, but had an accident. After waking up the next day, he was in a daze. He was already in bad health, but now it looked even worse. The young couple was originally intended to be matched by Emperor Qingyuan during the hunt, but who knew that there would be such a big misfortune, with the princess not yet awake from a high fever and Wang Zhao falling sick again. How could the two good people suddenly become like this? Later, there were rumours that Wang Zhao and the princess¡¯s horoscopes didn¡¯t match and forcing them to be together would only hurt them. It was not a good marriage. Fu Zhiyu also heard it. It was possible that this so-called rumour came from Xie Ke¡¯s side, or it was possible that he just contributed to it. But now he and the princess were still undecided and there was still room for refusal. Using such reasons as an excuse was the best way to ensure the decency of both parties to the greatest extent. After all, it was just fate, not the fault of either party. When Emperor Qingyuan came to see him, Fu Zhiyu weakly told him that he wanted to go back to the capital to recuperate. He was sick and wanted to see his mother consort, and Emperor Qingyuan agreed. ¡°Go ahead,¡± Emperor Qingyuan sighed, ¡°Don¡¯t worry about Princess Miaotang, Father Emperor will find you a good girl.¡± Fu Zhiyu agreed on the surface, but thought in his heart that the emperor might not last until then. Fu Zhiyu wasn¡¯t afraid that he would be targeted by the Xue and Lin families on his way back. First, they didn¡¯t know that he had seen Mingdao and knew their secrets, so there was no need to do anything to him. Second, they chased Mingdao because they were afraid that he would reveal their plans. If something happened to the prince on the way back to the capital, it would be equivalent to alerting the snake. Emperor Qingyuan would be wary and it would affect their plans. But what Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t expect was that the person responsible for escorting him back was Shen Yang. Xie Ke was very eager to escort him, but Emperor Qingyuan couldn¡¯t let him leave now. Even though his arm was dislocated, the emperor trusted Xie Ke and Xie Lin very much and no one could replace them. Sure enough, it wasn¡¯t enough to guard against Xie Ke. Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t expect that when he lifted the curtain of the carriage, he would see Shen Yang with a smile on his face. ¡°The Ministry of Justice sent a letter saying that there was an urgent matter that needed to be dealt with by this subject. So I had to take a leave of absence from the emperor,¡± Shen Yang saluted and said, ¡°It happens that Wang Zhao also returns to the capital. The emperor also specifically instructed this subject that Wang Zhao is sick and should be taken care of.¡± Fu Zhiyu: ¡°¡­¡­¡± Advertisements Intuitively, he felt that what Shen Yang said about the emergency from the Ministry of Justice was an excuse, but it was impossible for him not to go back because of Shen Yang¡¯s emergency. Fu Zhiyu stood outside the carriage for a while, then sat in and lowered the curtain. The carriage moved carefully. This carriage had a device for making tea and medicine. Shen Yang lowered his head, making medicine for wind chills for Fu Zhiyu. As soon as the lid was opened, the carriage was filled with a bitter smell. ¡°It¡¯s ready,¡± Shen Yang looked at the colour of the medicine and carefully poured a bowl, ¡°Wang Zhao, drink a little first, the autumn wind is cold, you have to pay more attention to your health.¡± Fu Zhiyu reluctantly took it but didn¡¯t drink it. He put the bowl on the table. At this time, the carriage just turned a corner, and the wheel hit a stone. The whole carriage shook, and most of the bowl of medicine was spilled all at once. ¡°Did His Highness burn himself?¡± Shen Yang was worried about him, put away the bowl, picked up the handkerchief and wiped the table clean, saying, ¡°It¡¯s my fault, the medicine that has just been boiled is too hot and not comfortable to drink. It should¡¯ve been cooled for a while before I gave it to Master.¡± He was so soft-spoken and attentive; people outside would be scared to death if they saw him like that. Fu Zhiyu squinted his eyes, but his heart thumped. Shen Yang just used ¡°Master¡± instead of ¡°Wang Zhao¡±. He was the head of the Ministry of Justice, and there should be only one person in Jilin who could be called ¡°Master¡± by him. That was the emperor in the dragon chair. Shen Yang didn¡¯t seem to notice the difference. He added water to the medicine pot and carefully boiled the medicine for Fu Zhiyu again. While staring at the boiling medicine pot, he suddenly said: ¡°I still remember that Master was poisoned by Xie Ke in his previous life. No one knew whether you would survive, and I didn¡¯t either. I cooked a bowl of medicine for you like this, watched you fall asleep, and then¡­¡± Ran away with the imperial seal. Shen Yang didn¡¯t say this, but Fu Zhiyu remembered it clearly, so he continued this sentence in his heart. In fact, he wasn¡¯t too surprised. He felt that Shen Yang was a little abnormal today, and he had a guess about his rebirth from the time of the fraud case. As for the betrayal he suddenly mentioned, Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t have any waves in his heart. He had long been immune to the events of his previous life. He just asked, ¡°When did you find out? I haven¡¯t said a word to you in the past two days.¡± After listening to Fu Zhiyu¡¯s rhetorical question, Shen Yang¡¯s hand tending to the medicine pot froze. He seemed to be sure of something, took a deep breath, and then replied after a while: ¡°The night before yesterday. I heard that Yuan Mingdao was missing, and I was afraid that you were worried, so I went to the camp to find you. You shouldn¡¯t have seen me, or didn¡¯t pay attention at all.¡± Fu Zhiyu was holding a torch. He was in the light and Shen Yang looked carefully. He felt that the expression on Zhiyu¡¯s face was different from when he had seen him before. He no longer had the lazy look, and his face was grim. This expression overlapped with his expression in the previous life. Shen Yang followed secretly. He also saw Xie Ke, but the two of them walked quickly. There were lots of leaves and branches on the ground in the woods and the sound of walking was also very loud. He didn¡¯t dare to walk too close, and he lost them after a while. Because of the distance, he didn¡¯t hear the conversation between Xie Ke and Fu Zhiyu, but he clearly saw that Fu Zhiyu had been walking in front, and Xie Ke followed behind him. Zhiyu obviously came to the hunting ground for the first time, but he seemed to be very familiar with the way, and some very difficult places were avoided in time. It wasn¡¯t the first time he was here. Even though Shen Yang lost him later, he could see this clearly. Coupled with Xie Ke¡¯s attitude towards Zhiyu, Shen Yang suddenly broke into a sweat from his own conjecture. After returning to the camp, he didn¡¯t fall asleep all night. Advertisements After Shen Yang was reborn, he spent very little time with Fu Zhiyu. To be precise, he never had a chance to say a few words. Perhaps because of this, he was deliberately or unintentionally misled by Xie Ke. For such a long time, he felt that only he and Xie Ke were reborn. But after discovering that something was wrong, Shen Yang realised that he had actually been affected by stereotyped thinking. He obviously had many doubts, and he didn¡¯t need to talk to Zhiyu to figure it out. Yuan Mingdao stayed in the Yuan residence for several years in his previous life before going to Fu Zhiyu¡¯s side as a guard. Why did he go to the palace directly in this life? With his memories, Shen Yang had habitually and naturally accepted that Fu Zhiyu and Yuan Mingdao used to be close, and in this life, they happened to meet again. Only now did he discover that there was something strange in it. ¡°Then what does Lord Shen want to say by telling me this now?¡± After listening to his explanation, Fu Zhiyu¡¯s expression didn¡¯t change in the slightest. ¡°Lord Shen has been a successful person in his two lifetimes. Now, can you leave me, the loser, alone?¡± Shen Yang lowered his head and smiled bitterly. Fu Zhiyu saw him lift up his sleeve and wipe the corners of his eyes. ¡°Zhiyu, you and I have been kept in the dark for too long. A few days ago, I confidently thought that since I had died once, I should know everything. But now I found out that it was not the case,¡± Shen Yang looked at him and said, ¡°Can you believe it? In my previous life, I didn¡¯t know that you were dead until I was in my fifties. Until halfway to the grave, I thought¡­ I thought everything was like Xie Ke said, that he would let you go if he took the throne. He told me that you were doing fine but just didn¡¯t want to see me and I didn¡¯t need to worry about you. I¡­¡± Shen Yang choked, and suddenly couldn¡¯t speak anymore. At that time, he took away the imperial seal and felt ashamed to see Fu Zhiyu again. He just had to comfort himself with the thoughts that Zhiyu had left the cannibalistic court and Xie Ke. He even wrote unsigned letters to Fu Zhiyu one by one to make up for the guilt that he had never been able to dispel in his heart. But when Shen Yang knew that Zhiyu had died when he was twenty-six years old, his guilt became a joke, a self-deception to forgive himself for betraying his benefactor. In such an extremely sad and angry mood, he took a dagger to attack Xie Ke. When he did that, he had the intention of dying together. But he didn¡¯t die at that time and Xie Ke also escaped death, just pierced by his dagger, bleeding all over the floor. After listening to Shen Yang¡¯s reason, Xie Ke looked at him, frowned, lowered his head and said something. That sentence Shen Yang remembered vividly until now. ¡°You are crazy, it¡¯s just that. Now it¡¯s all over at last, I won¡¯t bother with you,¡± Xie Ke said, ¡°I didn¡¯t lie to you about Zhiyu. He didn¡¯t disappear, it¡¯s just that you don¡¯t have the ability to see him.¡± ¡°I thought he was lying to me again,¡± Shen Yang said, ¡°But I really¡­ I wasn¡¯t reconciled when I died. When I opened my eyes, the whole world started over. I saw you again. Everything was like a dream.¡± Shen Yang couldn¡¯t control his tears, but as Fu Zhiyu listened to him talk about these things, except for frowning when he heard about certain scenes, he didn¡¯t have any expression on his face. What he didn¡¯t understand was that if he, who had been hurt and betrayed, hadn¡¯t shed a tear, why did Shen Yang and Xie Ke cry like this instead? ¡°You don¡¯t have to tell me all that,¡± Fu Zhiyu said. He was a little tired. After thinking a little, he added, ¡°I have long since moved on, so you can understand that as forgiveness. From now on, each of us will walk his own road and no one owes anyone anything.¡± These words didn¡¯t give Shen Yang the slightest comfort. He cried even more desperately, unable to suppress his tears, inconsolable. ¡°Master, Zhiyu, I¡¯m sorry¡­¡± Shen Yang said in a broken voice, ¡°I know that our relationship can never go back to what it was before, but I just want to make it up to you¡­¡± CH 56 Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t know what to answer him. He felt embarrassed even listening to these words and turned his head away. He really didn¡¯t understand why those two only regretted it after doing something wrong. Now they said they were sorry and begged him to do this and that. What was the point of it when he didn¡¯t need it anymore? To compensate for this kind of thing sounded really ironic to him. ¡°Xie Ke is¡­ very strange,¡± Shen Yang seemed to be trying to suppress his emotions. Knowing that now was not the time to cry, he began to sort out what he wanted to say to Fu Zhiyu, ¡°Stranger than in my previous life. I think he sometimes seems to be some kind of monster.¡± It¡¯s not a monster, it¡¯s an actor, Fu Zhiyu added silently in his heart. However, why did Xie Ke think he would not disappear? It was no secret that abnormal bugs would be deleted by the system after the task was completed. Every system should know that. If it weren¡¯t for him being so special that even the Lord God couldn¡¯t delete him, even if the world was rebooted, he might not be able to come back. What was Xie Ke planning at that time? Seeing him frown, Shen Yang added cautiously: ¡°Zhiyu, I don¡¯t know why you chose to live like this in this life. Perhaps, having the memories of your previous life is a very tiring thing for you. But I am not incapable now, even in front of Xie Ke. Many things may happen soon. I am afraid that you will be unduly affected. If¡­ if you want, I will send you away to avoid it for a while, okay? After this time is over, you can come back if you want, or you can never come back if you don¡¯t want to. Xie Ke is not so powerful, I can make him unable to find you.¡± ¡°Aren¡¯t you cooperating with Xie Ke?¡± Fu Zhiyu glanced at him, ¡°Why, are you going to betray again?¡± Shen Yang¡¯s words, for him, had no integrity at all. Shen Yang shook his head with a wry smile: ¡°We always take what we need in our lives¡­ Zhiyu, you also know that the matters of power are not as simple as black or white, and it is even more difficult to be determined by personal likes and dislikes. Many things are intertwined and it is hard to make them clear. But after I was reborn, I also thought carefully why Heaven brought me back. The only regret in my previous life lies in you, Zhiyu. If you can have a happy life, I will really have no regrets in these two lifetimes.¡± After listening to this, Fu Zhiyu only replied calmly: ¡°You are not compensating me, you are just compensating yourself.¡± ¡°Why separate the two?¡± Shen Yang asked rhetorically, ¡°To compensate you is to compensate myself. I have always felt that it was the same thing.¡± People who were used to high positions could pull their emotions together quickly. It was okay to cry for a moment because of too much emotional impact. Now Shen Yang looked neat again. He also turned and took care of the medicine pot that was already starting to boil. ¡°The medicine is ready,¡± he said and poured another bowl for Fu Zhiyu. This time, he didn¡¯t hand it to him directly. He put it on the tray and let it cool for a while, then took a wooden spoon and scooped a small spoonful and drank it himself. ¡°The temperature is just right,¡± he said softly, ¡°Take the medicine, look, I¡¯ve drunk it first, there will be no problem this time.¡± But Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t dare to take the medicine that had passed through Shen Yang¡¯s hands. He had a shadow over this matter, and he wasn¡¯t sick in the first place, so he didn¡¯t need to take medicine. Advertisements He felt more and more that he really couldn¡¯t afford to be Shen Yang¡¯s master. He and Xie Ke were obviously the same kind of people. Those in power were always so self-righteous. ¡°What¡¯s the difference between what you are like now and what you were in your previous life?¡± Fu Zhiyu sighed, ¡°Everything is done under the banner of being for my own good. But in fact, you only treat me as a piece of paper with no thoughts. Shen Yang, you have never changed.¡± Shen Yang¡¯s hand shook. He was indeed confused for a moment because of Fu Zhiyu¡¯s words, and then he said, ¡°But, Zhiyu, what do you really want?¡± Only now did Fu Zhiyu mobilise a little of his feelings. Before he got into the carriage, he hadn¡¯t thought of it, and now he was answering Shen Yang very seriously. ¡°What do I want? I just want a normal relationship from the beginning to the end. Shen Yang, in my previous life, you and I shared joys and sorrows. I never regarded you and Mingdao simply as subordinates or subjects. I always thought that we were friends who trusted each other. I didn¡¯t want you to prove your sincerity by dying for me for nothing, like Mingdao did. At that time, I knew that I likely wouldn¡¯t last long. Before drinking that bowl of medicine, I originally planned to let you escape quickly. I prepared a carriage and guards for you. You could go anywhere at that time, even if you chose to be Xie Ke¡¯s courtier after my death. I knew you had the ambition of governing the country, I didn¡¯t plan to tie you up for the rest of your life after my death. Or, if you really couldn¡¯t wait, you could just tell me face to face that you didn¡¯t want to follow me anymore. You knew my character, you knew I would let you go. Birds choose good trees to live in, I understand. I don¡¯t know why you chose the worst way, and now you tell me that it was for my good. You and Xie Ke are really the same kind of people. I don¡¯t understand what you are thinking. In my previous life, I regarded you as a friend and Xie Ke as a lover. Back then, it wasn¡¯t just the two of you who had a difficult road to go. It was not that everything went smoothly for me. I also had difficulties and I also had hardships, but I didn¡¯t do you two any wrong. You are asking me what I want now. I really have nothing to tell you. It¡¯s useless to say it. Shen Yang, I can¡¯t accept your so-called compensation anymore. God knows what methods you will use that I can¡¯t understand.¡± Shen Yang¡¯s plan to send him away was Fu Zhiyu¡¯s own original plan, but now, Fu Zhiyu would never accept his help again. Between the two of them, there was no trust, and they could no longer be friends. In his previous life, most of his memories of Shen Yang were happy, but the ending wasn¡¯t good. Now he was willing to say such a long passage to Shen Yang because he felt that there was still a possibility of dialogue between the two of them. ¡°Don¡¯t bother me again, it will be the best compensation.¡± After Fu Zhiyu said these words, he didn¡¯t speak anymore, and there was a dead silence in the carriage. The hunting ground was not very far from the capital. Fu Zhiyu set off in the morning and arrived at the residence in the afternoon. Shen Yang watched him get out of the carriage and enter the residence gate. It took a while before he left. After Fu Zhiyu entered the residence, he briefly cleaned up, sent a message to his two uncles, and then asked Steward Zhou to prepare the carriage and went to the palace. The emperor left, and the palace seemed empty. Liuli Palace had been leisurely recently. Consort Yun leaned on the couch, reading a book. She was surprised to see him come in. ¡°Why did you come back suddenly?¡± She asked, ¡°The hunt in the autumn takes a few days. Did something happen?¡± Advertisements Fu Zhiyu asked all the servants to go out, staying alone with his mother and asking Caiyan and Caimei to guard the door to prevent others from eavesdropping. Seeing his actions, Consort Yun felt that something was really going to happen. She straightened up at once and lowered her voice a little: ¡°Something did happen?¡± Fu Zhiyu sat down in front of her and said solemnly: ¡°Mother Consort, I think we need to prepare to run. The time we have been waiting for has come.¡± When Consort Yun heard this, her hands couldn¡¯t help trembling. She was probably not mentally prepared. Her eyes were at a loss for an instant, and then she carefully confirmed with Fu Zhiyu: ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Really,¡± Fu Zhiyu held her hand, ¡°Apart from the accident of Mingdao being injured, this timing is better than I thought.¡± Yuan Mingdao had relayed everything he heard to Fu Zhiyu. Even if he didn¡¯t hear some things fully, Fu Zhiyu could already guess what he needed to know from these things. They chose to conspire there not because of their carelessness, but because the time was urgent. He first talked about the whole thing to Consort Yun to let her understand what happened, and gave her some time to digest it. After she calmed down a little bit, he spoke again. ¡°I think they want to do it in the hunting ground,¡± Fu Zhiyu said. ¡°If I had to choose, I would choose it there.¡± The capital was heavily guarded, and there were soldiers of the Xie family everywhere. It was really unwise to rebel in the capital as it was easy for Emperor Qingyuan to strike back. But the hunting ground was different. Although Xie Lin and Xie Ke also brought soldiers to guard, the mountains and forests were better than Emperor Qingyuan¡¯s lair. And it was easy to hide in the mountains, or to hide soldiers. If you took advantage of attacking Emperor Qingyuan suddenly when he was out hunting, it was not impossible to succeed. ¡°Father likes autumn hunting. Every time he goes there, he stays for several days in a row. The prey he got a few days ago was good. He will definitely go hunting again,¡± Fu Zhiyu said. ¡°Mother Consort, the reason why I was so anxious to come back was to tell you quickly. The time we prepared for is now.¡± ¡°Now?¡± It was only when it came down to it that Consort Yun felt unreal, ¡°I¡­¡± But Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t feel it was too sudden. He thought very clearly that Emperor Qingyuan wouldn¡¯t be able to come back. Even if the Xue and Lin families didn¡¯t succeed, the Xie family, who was also watching, wouldn¡¯t let this opportunity go. Shen Yang was now working with the Xie family, and he clearly knew all this, otherwise he wouldn¡¯t say such things. Fu Zhiyu continued: ¡°I have already sent a letter to my two uncles, and when I sent Mingdao to the merchant house, I also left them a message. Mother Consort also knows that the private soldiers given by my uncle arrived a long time ago, and I have been keeping them in a house outside the capital, just for this day. Tonight, I just wanted to send Mother Consort away. After leaving the capital, my uncle¡¯s private soldiers will take you to the merchant house. They already know what is going on after seeing my token and will take care of you. There is also the Yuan family. It is already low-key, and recently Grandfather rarely goes out, even exempt from going to court. Mother will go with them, quietly, no one will notice.¡± ¡°What about you?¡± Consort Yun keenly felt something was wrong, ¡°Xiaobao, don¡¯t we go together?¡± ¡°Liuli Palace is not like the Yuan Family. After all, this is the imperial palace. After Mother is gone, we need Caiyan and Caimei to deal with the things here, and we also need Dr. Chen to cover up. He will say that the Imperial Noble Consort has fallen ill and can¡¯t see anyone. This way, we¡¯ll win some time,¡± Fu Zhiyu explained, ¡°I have to stay and take them away. Besides, if something really goes wrong after that, if I¡¯m still here, at least there is room for manoeuvre. Mother has to believe me. I promised to live a peaceful life with you and Mingdao in the future, and I won¡¯t break my promise.¡± CH 57 Consort Yun looked at him, the worry in her eyes clear at a glance. ¡°Mother knows, I am very strong and have the ability to protect myself. I have prepared for this matter a long time ago. I really won¡¯t let anything happen to me.¡± Fu Zhiyu comforted her, ¡°It won¡¯t take more than a few hours, we will follow up soon. This time, just listen to me, okay?¡± Consort Yun looked directly into his eyes, and finally nodded. To prepare to escape, she quickly changed her headdress full of beads and her luxurious clothes, put on the simplest and lightest clothes, and took nothing else, nor did she take another look at the things she was leaving. Fu Zhiyu was prepared. He was riding a carriage from his residence. This carriage was specially made, and the hidden compartment was enough to hide a person. It was getting dark, and Fu Zhiyu took advantage of the night, just like last time, to pass the poorly inspected gates without accident, and headed to his residence. The capital was calm, like a pool of stagnant water, but there was an undercurrent surging inside. Yuan Jiangxing¡¯s private soldiers received the message from him and were divided into two teams. One team arrived at the Yuan residence and the other team came to Wang Zhao¡¯s residence. The man who led the team saluted Fu Zhiyu and said, ¡°The Yuan family is doing well. According to your instructions, all the gold, silver and furs are left, just taking the people.¡± Old Master Yuan was a bit pedantic by nature, and he was unwilling to leave at first, but after one sentence sent by Yuan Jiangwen, he was persuaded. ¡°It¡¯s fine if you don¡¯t want to leave, but with an identity like the Yuan family, it¡¯s destined to be noticeable, and when others use you to threaten Consort Yun and Wang Zhao, how do you expect them to choose? What are they supposed to do?¡± Old Master Yuan didn¡¯t have many weaknesses, and what he cared about most was his little daughter and poor grandson whose fate was bad. He sighed and went with them. During the time of the four countries gathering, people came and went in the capital much more actively than before. The city gate had not been under martial law recently. With a little disguise, it was passed without an accident. According to Fu Zhiyu¡¯s arrangement, they would meet again after passing through the city gate and going to the house outside the capital, where fast horses and carriages were prepared to take them to Jiangnan as quickly as possible. It was not difficult to escape. Fu Zhiyu knew that according to this plan, one could actually escape at any time. The difficulty was the aftermath, in order not to turn the escape into a flight. Emperor Qingyuan would have to die this time, and there was no turning back. Advertisements Fu Zhiyu returned to his residence. After he had done all these things, he sat in the hall for a while, then Rongrong came over and rubbed against his leg, raising his puppy eyes to look at him. ¡°I have to send you and Ah Tang away too,¡± Fu Zhiyu murmured, lowering his head and stroking Rongrong¡¯s fur, ¡°We can¡¯t leave anyone behind.¡± He let out a long sigh, only to feel that the stagnant air in his chest also disappeared with the departure of the Yuan family and Consort Yun. He was not afraid of anything now, and a truly new beginning was just around the corner. In fact, the two families, Xue and Lin, were nothing, but Xie Ke¡­ Part of the reason Fu Zhiyu stayed was because he was wary of him, but Xie Ke was crazy about him alone. As long as he was still here, there should be nothing wrong with his mother and the Yuan family. He just hoped that everything would really go as he wished, and everything would go well. Shen Yang didn¡¯t go back to his mansion. He had nothing to do there. He just used an excuse in front of the emperor to come back to talk to Fu Zhiyu. Now that the goal had been achieved, he didn¡¯t need to pretend that there was an urgent matter at the Ministry of Justice. The carriage turned around in front of Wang Zhao¡¯s residence, and then followed Shen Yang¡¯s instructions and left the city. This time, it was already late at night when he returned to the hunting ground. Shen Yang didn¡¯t eat anything today, but he didn¡¯t feel hungry at all. He stayed in the carriage for a long time in a daze, thinking about something. After returning to the hunting ground, he didn¡¯t report to the emperor according to the normal procedures, but took a shortcut. The soldiers guarding the path were the guards of the Xie family. They glanced at him and let him pass. It was in this state of disorientation that Shen Yang entered Xie Ke¡¯s tent. His eyes were blank, and he walked as if he was floating. Today, he was dressed in all white, and at first glance he looked like a ghost. Du Yin was talking to Xie Ke. He was taken aback when he saw Shen Yang come in. Once he recognised the man, he stopped talking at once, feeling that something was wrong. After Xie Ke saw She Yang¡¯s strange appearance, he first frowned, and then asked with concern: ¡°How is Zhiyu? Did he take his medicine properly?¡± Shen Yang shook his head. He stood in the centre of the tent, as if looking for a place to sit, but halfway there, he suddenly sat on the ground as if something had drained the strength out of his whole body. ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± Xie Ke also obviously felt that he was really abnormal. He stood up all of a sudden and said nervously, ¡°Is something wrong with Zhiyu? Say something.¡± Du Yin also felt that the atmosphere was wrong. As soon as he heard Fu Zhiyu¡¯s name, his eyelids twitched. Knowing that this was something he couldn¡¯t control, he turned and went out very sensibly, leaving these two people alone in the tent. Advertisements Shen Yang¡¯s eyes were blank as if he looked at a point in the void. After a while he murmured: ¡°I¡­ did something wrong in my previous life, I know, I admit my mistake, but, could it be that in this life¡­ I¡¯m still wrong in the end?¡± ¡°What stupid things are you saying?¡± Xie Ke frowned, not caring about his messy psychological condition at all, just thinking about Fu Zhiyu, ¡°How is Zhiyu? Is he alright? It should be very calm in the capital now, he can¡­¡± After he said this, he was suddenly interrupted by Shen Yang: ¡°It¡¯s not only me who is wrong, you are also wrong, Xie Ke.¡± Xie Ke didn¡¯t understand and looked at him suspiciously. ¡°I know about Zhiyu¡¯s rebirth, and I found it when he went out to look for Yuan Mingdao.¡± Shen Yang said; he seemed to have regained some sanity, and his speech gradually became clearer, ¡°I originally wanted to confess these things to him in the carriage, thinking that¡­ after making everything clear, maybe I can feel better, maybe Zhiyu can stop treating me as a stranger and will try to accept my help. I also asked him: what do you really want?¡± Xie Ke didn¡¯t say anything; he actually wanted to know what the answer Shen Yang got from Zhiyu was. He had also asked Zhiyu this question countless times. At various times and places, in various ways, he tried to find what Zhiyu cared about, what made him feel happy and what would make him feel that he, Xie Ke, was changing and was not that bad, but he never got an answer. Shen Yang had a very good memory. When he read a book, he would never forget it, so he remembered everything Fu Zhiyu said clearly, and now he repeated it as if Zhiyu was standing in front of him. He also deeply remembered Zhiyu¡¯s expression at that time, calm, with some seriousness in his eyes. But there was nothing else, he didn¡¯t find any hatred in it, as if Zhiyu really didn¡¯t care about all those things in the past and he was the only one still brooding and begging for forgiveness. Xie Ke also listened carefully and finally opened his mouth, not knowing how to react. At that moment, he was grateful to Shen Yang that at least he was willing to tell him this. He knew in his heart that Shen Yang was different from him. Although Shen Yang chose to betray in the end, before that, he had been loyal to his master and saved Zhiyu from danger. Unlike him, who could hardly pick out a few good things in his memories. Zhiyu would say such a long passage to Shen Yang from the bottom of his heart, but when it was Xie Ke¡¯s turn, he wouldn¡¯t say a word. ¡°Zhiyu said that I was successful in my two lifetimes. I think I have been confused for two lifetimes,¡± Shen Yang said with a wry smile. ¡°You see, I have been trying so hard to find out what he wants, and I have self-righteously arranged for him to live a so-called peaceful life, but I have never thought about it the other way round. What does Zhiyu not want? If I hadn¡¯t used the method he didn¡¯t want the most, we wouldn¡¯t be like this. I have always been wrong, wrong until now.¡± He took a deep breath, raised his head to look at Xie Ke, and then said, ¡°I didn¡¯t plan to tell you this, Xie Ke, you know in your own heart that there is no friendship between us, and it would be good if we didn¡¯t draw swords against each other. But in the end, I still told you. I want you to wake up too, stop thinking that you are arranging something for Zhiyu, and give him respect. It is more important than all kinds of protection. I beg you, let him go.¡± Xie Ke didn¡¯t answer. He stayed frozen in place for a long time without speaking. The lights in the tent were a little dim, and Shen Yang couldn¡¯t see his expression clearly. ¡°You go,¡± Xie Ke finally said, ¡°let me¡­ be alone.¡± Shen Yang had already finished what he had to say. He stood up and walked out slowly. Halfway through, he turned around and said another thing as if he remembered something. ¡°In fact, I have watched all your performances since I was reborn. I really find it very strange. Xie Ke, in my previous life, I always felt that you didn¡¯t love Zhiyu at all. When I first came back, I was really surprised to see the things you did. I even wondered if someone else had occupied your body. But you do remember everything that happened before. Xie Ke, I don¡¯t believe in the lie of knowing your heart only after losing something. You are not that slow. After Zhiyu died, you lived as if you were fine, you didn¡¯t miss anything. You couldn¡¯t have been carefree for so many years before you understood. You¡­ are actually as presumptuous as I am in choosing what is best for Zhiyu, but using the means he least wanted, is that right?¡± He seemed to have touched Xie Ke¡¯s sore spot, which reminded him of some memories that he was very reluctant to remember, and he became emotional in an instant. ¡°Get out!¡± Shen Yang seemed to have confirmed something with these two words. His expression became complicated for a moment, and finally he only glanced at Xie Ke with pity, turned around and left. The lights in the tent flashed, and it seemed to become a little darker. ¡°¡­I¡¯m changing, I¡¯m¡­ trying to get rid of the traits and practices that Zhiyu doesn¡¯t like,¡± Xie Ke huddled up in place, his voice trembling and frightened, ¡°027, is it really impossible for the two of us, Zhiyu and me¡­¡± Unlike these two people who were now drowning in a whirlpool of emotions and couldn¡¯t get out, 027, as a bystander, could still keep its sanity. It thought carefully and didn¡¯t answer Xie Ke¡¯s question immediately, but caught a point that neither of them had noticed. ¡°Why did Fu Zhiyu say that Shen Yang had been successful in both his lives?¡± 027 said suspiciously, ¡°Forget about this life, but in the previous life, when he¡­ wasn¡¯t around, Shen Yang¡¯s status¡­ to be sure, he was just a traitor of the fallen emperor. With Fu Zhiyu¡¯s impression of you so bad, why can he assume that Shen Yang must have had a good life following you?¡± CH 58 Xie Ke was confused for a while because of these words, and then said: ¡°Maybe¡­ Shen Yang mentioned it during the conversation?¡± Shen Yang only told him what Zhiyu had said. He didn¡¯t say anything about the overall conversation. It was also possible for him to mention it by the way. ¡°It¡¯s not just this,¡± the system said, ¡°When after the Qianyuan Battle you ran to his residence and fainted, the only time he used the Shadow ring, he made that gesture.¡± ¡°At that time¡­ I gave him the instructions along with it.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think he read them. He didn¡¯t want to keep that thing at all,¡± the system said, ¡°But he used it accurately at that time. I always think that Fu Zhiyu knows something he shouldn¡¯t know, or that he has known it a long time ago. It¡¯s a sort of intuition.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t understand what you mean,¡± Xie Ke said, ¡°Zhiyu knows this¡­ so what? Maybe he noticed it in his previous life.¡± The system was silent for a while, then changed the subject and said, ¡°Shen Yang has a point. Think about it for yourself. Regarding my own doubts, I will track it down.¡± If Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t have so many abnormalities, the system wouldn¡¯t be so sensitive, but if all abnormal things happened to one person, it had to pay attention. Xie Ke was still huddling there. He felt the temporary departure of the system, and he was really the only one left in the tent. ¡°¡­Shouldn¡¯t I have come back?¡± He murmured to himself, ¡°Zhiyu doesn¡¯t want anything, he doesn¡¯t want anything from me¡­ I know, the last thing he wants is me.¡± If there was no him in Zhiyu¡¯s life, Zhiyu would live happier. Xie Ke couldn¡¯t help thinking about it, unable to suppress his self-doubt. He knew that he was very impulsive when he first came back, because he hadn¡¯t seen Zhiyu for too long, because he had recovered what he had lost. He really couldn¡¯t suppress his desire for control. But at that time he obviously felt something was wrong. In the eight months of the Qianyuan Battle, he calmed down and gradually recalled the choices he had made, the choices that caused him to make mistakes again and again, and finally step into the abyss. After talking to the old shepherd couple again, he slowly understood a little bit. Xie Ke knew that when he first came back after the reboot of the world, he didn¡¯t actually think clearly about what he had done wrong. He felt that it was just an accidental misunderstanding that caused everything. As long as he could make amends, Zhiyu would come back. When he first saw Zhiyu so calm, he even thought for a while that the things weren¡¯t that bad. But later he discovered that this calm state of mind was worse than hating him to the bone or being hysterical. At least that would mean that Zhiyu still had some emotions towards him. As time passed, Xie Ke¡¯s excitement about recovering his loss gradually cooled down, and he felt that he and Zhiyu seemed to be getting farther and farther away. No matter what he did, no matter how hard he tried, he seemed to be standing in place, or even regressing. He originally thought that the so-called truth was the key to solving the problem. As long as he could one day make Zhiyu in the ancient world understand the things that were beyond common sense, everything would turn around. But the further he got, the more doubts he had about this matter. Xie Ke actually knew what the system meant, but he was no longer sure anymore. Advertisements It was not that Zhiyu couldn¡¯t understand; to be precise, he should already know part of it. Would things get better when he really told him the truth and the whole story? Wouldn¡¯t it¡­ go in a more ugly direction? This night was destined to be uneventful. After Fu Zhiyu sent the people away, there were still a few soldiers left around, and a few elite ones had been sent to the hunting ground, just waiting for the news to come. He didn¡¯t fall asleep all night, following the situation at the hunting ground. If it didn¡¯t happen tomorrow, the Xue and Lin families would probably never have a chance in their lives, so tomorrow was the time to decide everything. When Emperor Qingyuan woke up this morning, he only felt very uneasy, as if something was about to happen. But today was a sunny day, a rare good weather for the autumn. The accidents that had happened a few days ago were also left behind. There would always be some accidents during the autumn hunting. It was not uncommon for people to be frightened and injured, and it had nothing to do with him. But Emperor Qingyuan always felt that the worry in his heart couldn¡¯t be suppressed. Today was the last day, he comforted himself. After the hunt was over, the gathering of the four countries would be over too, and everything would be fine when it was back on track. Today he also called Xie Lin and Xie Ke to hunt with him. Xie Ke didn¡¯t come because of an arm injury, which made the emperor a little unhappy. But Xie Lin was there, and the Lu family and the Du family were also there, surrounding by him layer by layer, which calmed down Emperor Qingyuan¡¯s somewhat turbulent heart. If something could happen to him, it would mean that he had lived this life in vain. The hunt began as usual. Emperor Qingyuan only felt that today was particularly smooth, and the prey was better than last time. It was the best day ever. This completely calmed down his uneasy mood from the morning. He was chasing a fleeing deer. Even in this situation, he had a circle of guards around him, riding horses. This was where Emperor Qingyuan¡¯s sense of security came from. However, when he raised his bow and shot at the deer, he felt the horse under him tremble violently. When the arrow hit the deer, it was clear that an arrow had also hit his horse. Emperor Qingyuan fell to the ground with his horse all of a sudden. He reacted quickly. When he fell, he protected the vital parts. Except for a little scratch, there was nothing else wrong. At this moment, he heard a cry of ¡°guards!¡±, which sounded like Xie Lin¡¯s call, and his guards immediately came up. Xie Lin dismounted, bowed down to help the emperor up, and asked, ¡°Is Your Majesty okay?¡± Emperor Qingyuan nodded and said, ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± ¡°It doesn¡¯t seem like an accident,¡± Xie Lin said, ¡°I¡¯m afraid that someone has the audacity to plot against Your Majesty. It¡¯s fine, I have prepared for this.¡± After hearing these words, Emperor Qingyuan breathed a sigh of relief, and then keenly felt something was wrong. What did it mean to have been prepared? How could Xie Lin have been prepared, but he didn¡¯t know anything? It was noon now, the time when the sun was at its strongest in autumn, but Emperor Qingyuan felt cold all over his body because of this sentence. Advertisements Fu Yanran didn¡¯t go hunting today. He stayed in the camp to help Fu Yanxi apply medicinal oil. The last time Fu Yanxi hunted, he had already injured his arm. When he came back, he couldn¡¯t stand the sense of failure that he hadn¡¯t hunted any prey. As a result, he practised archery for a whole day yesterday. He didn¡¯t practise successfully and also sprained his arm. He woke up in the morning and it hurt all the time, he couldn¡¯t even lift it up. The hunting ground was not as good as the palace, there was no maidservant to serve, and Fu Yanxi didn¡¯t dare to call the imperial doctor. ¡°If I call the imperial doctor, the emperor will know. If he knows, he will scold me again for being useless.¡± He said while applying the medicine, feeling painful and aggrieved, ¡°I, I am just afraid of him, why is he so fierce¡­¡± ¡°Don¡¯t practice if you don¡¯t like it,¡± Fu Yanran glanced at him, and then rubbed the medicinal oil, ¡°You, ah¡­¡± ¡°You can¡¯t be perfunctory,¡± Fu Yanxi became serious. ¡°Mother Consort says you have to be serious about everything you do.¡± Fu Yanran felt helpless and said, ¡°You are reading yourself silly. After these few days, it will get better.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not going to get better,¡± Fu Yanxi shook his head and said sadly, ¡°It¡¯s not that you don¡¯t know, Father Emperor is not only strict at this moment, he¡¯s always like this. Because¡­¡± When he said this, he also was sensible enough to lower his voice: ¡°Father wants to teach us how to be the emperor.¡± After listening to this sentence, Fu Yanran didn¡¯t say anything, but just lowered his head and smiled. ¡°I also know that he originally wanted it to be the Ninth Brother, but now the Ninth Brother is not well, so he set his eyes on us,¡± Fu Yanxi¡¯s arm hurt and he couldn¡¯t help but complain, ¡°If only the Ninth Brother was okay, Father Emperor wouldn¡¯t torture me like this. I have often thought recently that if the Ninth Brother became the emperor, he is so nice, he would definitely not force me like this.¡± ¡°Doesn¡¯t Eleventh Brother¡­ want to be the emperor?¡± ¡°Of course I don¡¯t want to, Mother Consort also told me to be careful,¡± Fu Yanxi lowered his voice again and said in a small voice, ¡°She said, it¡¯s easy to die as an emperor.¡± Fu Yanran really laughed this time. He couldn¡¯t help laughing while putting away the medicinal oil. ¡°Consort Yue is sensible,¡± he said, ¡°Well, I see. Eleventh Brother, don¡¯t go out today, just stay with me. Don¡¯t worry, things will be different tomorrow.¡± ¡°Okay,¡± Fu Yanxi held his arm stiffly. He seemed to relax a little because of the conversation, and then said to Fu Yanran, ¡°I want you to be the emperor, and I don¡¯t want the Third Brother or the Crown Prince to be. I think you are better than them.¡± ¡°Eleventh Brother, people change,¡± Fu Yanran sighed, ¡°I¡¯ll¡­ try to be good, okay.¡± When Fu Yanxi was eating at noon, he couldn¡¯t even pick up his chopsticks and was moved to tears by Fu Yanran stuffing food to him one bite at a time. ¡°Thirteenth, you are so kind,¡± Fu Yanxi said. ¡°When I return to the palace, I will lend you all my grandfather¡¯s most precious ancient books.¡± For Fu Yanxi, those ancient books were probably the best things in the world. ¡°When we return to the palace?¡± Fu Yanran raised his eyebrows, ¡°When we get back to the palace, there will be nothing, maybe¡­ I can get you all the ancient books you haven¡¯t read.¡± His voice was so low that Fu Yanxi didn¡¯t hear it. He started to feel sleepy after lunch and fell asleep on the bed. In the afternoon, Fu Yanxi heard the noise outside. He originally thought it was the hunters who came back early and were showing each other their prey, but later he realised that it was not. His and Fu Yanran¡¯s tent was surrounded by a circle of soldiers. Although there had been protective guards before, there were not so many. It wasn¡¯t until Fu Yanxi saw with his own eyes that the tent was suddenly soaked with a streak of blood that he was really sure that something was wrong. ¡°Don¡¯t look,¡± Fu Yanran seemed to have known something a long time ago, comforting him, ¡°Don¡¯t go out.¡± Fu Yanxi obeyed his younger brother in a daze; until the next morning, a man opened the curtain of the tent and walked in. It was Xie Lin. ¡°Your Highness Eleventh Prince,¡± he didn¡¯t salute after he came in, but wiped the blood from his sword in front of the two of them, as if to report and also as if to condescendingly inform, ¡°Yesterday, Xue and Lin, two rebellious subjects and traitors, conspired with the ancient countries of the Western Regions to rebel. The masterminds were beheaded by me. The Crown Prince, Wang Li and Wang Ming attempted to kill their father emperor and were captured.¡± Fu Yanran lowered his head. He didn¡¯t feel any surprise, just said ¡°hmm¡± plainly, and then asked, ¡°Where is Father Emperor?¡± ¡°Unfortunately, His Majesty was wounded by an arrow in the chaos of the battle. He was seriously injured and died early this morning.¡± CH 59 Fu Yanxi¡¯s whole head was in a daze. After listening to this sentence, he opened his mouth and didn¡¯t utter a syllable. He really never felt this so-called undercurrent surging, he just felt that everything was normal. Why did it become like that this morning? He remembered what nonsense he had said yesterday and felt that his mind was in a mess. He was really just talking casually. Why did¡­ everything come true this morning? He was at a loss, and he didn¡¯t know where to put his hands and feet. He only looked at Fu Yanran, who seemed to look as if nothing had happened, as if he was looking for the backbone. ¡°General Zhongyong is loyal to his master and eradicated treachery. This prince was distraught when he heard of the death of his father emperor, but the country cannot stay without a monarch even for a day. So I ask General Zhongyong to temporarily take the emperor¡¯s place in order to revive the dynasty.¡± Fu Yanran was very calm, he was even a little indifferent, as if he was walking through an emotionless script. He actually knew all this a long time ago, and even took the initiative to contact Xie Ke. Fu Yanran was different from other princes. He climbed up from the lowest point and had to be careful everywhere, for fear of falling back into the abyss again from a high place. In fact, he knew very well in his heart that although Emperor Qingyuan had some intentions, his chances of becoming emperor smoothly were very small. Not to mention the Crown Prince and the Third Prince, even if they were stopped by the emperor, Fu Yanran had no background. What would he rely on to stand up at that time? Back then, Emperor Qingyuan could make a comeback because the Xue and Lin families relaxed their vigilance, because he was the only imperial bloodline left to choose from and because Emperor Qingyuan indeed was very capable and very lucky. At that time, he met people like Xie Lin, who had great potential. But Fu Yanran looked at himself and felt that he basically didn¡¯t have this possibility. He couldn¡¯t take risks, he didn¡¯t want to take risks and let himself fall into the abyss again. Under this mentality, Fu Yanran¡¯s mind was sharper than others¡¯, and he could see that something wasn¡¯t right with Xie Ke. But it was not that easy to rebel. Just like the Xue and Lin families a few decades ago, even though they had designed to kill the emperor, they still didn¡¯t dare to change the dynasty. Rebellion is a crime of high treason; if you choose wrong words and a wrong name, you will be blamed by the world. Even though the Xie family was loved by the people, Emperor Qingyuan wasn¡¯t a perverse person and his ability to govern the country was indeed not bad. In this case, the rebellion on the surface wouldn¡¯t work. The current situation was designed a long time ago; the mantis stalked the cicada unaware of the oriole behind its back. It was the Xue and Lin families who had to carry the blame for the rebellion. Emperor Qingyuan was killed by them. The Xie family wasn¡¯t at fault at all. But the country cannot stay without a monarch for a day; this was Fu Yanran¡¯s bargaining chip. It was better to be the puppet emperor of the Xie family than to fall into the abyss and die without a whole body. The puppet emperor was also the emperor; at least he could let his mother consort and Ah Ye live a good life and protect the people he wanted to protect. Compared with the hunting ground, the capital was calm. It wasn¡¯t until last night that there was a sudden fire in Liuli Palace. The guards came when they heard the news, but the fire spread and could no longer be controlled. Only in the morning was the fire extinguished, and the entire Liuli Palace burned to a ruin. It was said that the Imperial Noble Consort Yun was lying in her bedchamber because of her illness and didn¡¯t escape. It was said that Wang Zhao was also in the palace because of his concern for his mother. Both mother and son perished in the fire. There were no ashes left. But soon, this didn¡¯t matter. Even the emperor was dead, so who cared about a consort? Advertisements The gathering of the four countries was originally a happy event, and no one expected that the ending would be like this. But when something happened, it had to be resolved. Xie Lin moved. He had done all these things and except for a little excitement at the beginning, when he saw Fu Yanran, he was already very calm. He was not young either, a few years older than Emperor Qingyuan. He was covered in battle wounds. He also knew that his body would not last long. He was originally encouraged by Xie Ke. He also felt that in his life, he had to get rid of the shackles of the ¡°one person¡± from ¡°under one person and above ten thousand people¡±, and to taste the taste of truly reaching the top. Now that he had done it, he could be regarded as having no regrets in this life. These things would be handed over to Xie Ke sooner or later. After all, he was young and his future achievements would never be worse than Xie Lin¡¯s own. But¡­ where did this guy go? Obviously it was all planned by Xie Ke behind the scenes; how could he disappear when these things happened? Never mind the dislocation of his arm, it was just a lie to the emperor, a pretext. Xie Lin didn¡¯t believe it. Xie Ke had some kind of magic about him. He could survive any injury. He was someone who came from the Gate of the Ghosts, how could he care about such a little injury as a dislocated arm? But Xie Lin searched everywhere and didn¡¯t find Xie Ke. When he ran into Du Yin, Xie Lin stopped Xie Ke¡¯s confidant and asked, ¡°Where is Xie Ke?¡± The corner of Du Yin¡¯s mouth twitched, and he looked at the sky speechlessly. What do you mean? Xie Lin followed him to look at the sky, and after a while, he understood. ¡°It¡¯s Wang Zhao again,¡± he sighed, ¡°I¡¯m about to wonder if he¡¯s actually doing all this for Fu Zhiyu. What¡¯s the hurry? Now that it¡¯s like this, can Wang Zhao still run away?¡± Du Yin thought for a moment and said, ¡°That¡¯s not necessarily true.¡± Advertisements Xie Ke¡¯s heart was no longer on this before the melee. He originally wanted to achieve all this to protect Zhiyu. Now that Fu Zhiyu himself was a problem, Xie Ke couldn¡¯t possibly put his heart and soul into these things. The system came back in the afternoon. At that time, there was a sound of killing outside the tent, but Xie Ke¡¯s hands and feet were cold because of the system¡¯s words. ¡°I was actually checking Fu Zhiyu a long time ago, but I didn¡¯t have a clue. This time I changed my approach,¡± the 027 system said. ¡°I went to other systems and asked them if they had heard of any abnormal data. Many systems didn¡¯t dare to talk to me because of the orders of the Lord God, but there is a new system that I have helped. It secretly told me that there used to be a person living in the Lord God¡¯s space. It was an abnormal data of the ancient world. The Lord God couldn¡¯t delete him, so he stayed there for a long time and often talked to the Lord God and other systems.¡± Xie Ke didn¡¯t speak, and the 027 system could feel him trembling all over. ¡°That data is most likely Fu Zhiyu,¡± the system concluded. ¡°I have always wondered why he can come back with his memory after the reboot of the world. According to the rules of the Lord God¡¯s bug deletion, even if he came back, at most it would be new data that came back with the world.¡± ¡°Then it wouldn¡¯t be Zhiyu,¡± Xie Ke suddenly added at this moment, ¡°If it was new data, it should be the Fu Zhiyu from the original text. I¡­ sometimes I hope he forgets those bad things, and sometimes I¡¯m even more glad that he remembers.¡± The system was silent for a long time, and said, ¡°Regardless of whether that abnormal data is Fu Zhiyu or not, you should go to him. Make everything clear. He is the party concerned. There is no doubt that he was hurt because of this matter. No matter what his attitude is after knowing the result, you shouldn¡¯t keep it from him. Xie Ke, respect is not something you just talk about.¡± Xie Ke¡¯s fingers twitched and he didn¡¯t answer. ¡°It¡¯s your choice,¡± the system let out a rare sigh, ¡°This is between the two of you, I won¡¯t say anything.¡± Xie Ke knew in his heart that he couldn¡¯t let himself think about this for too long. Zhiyu was leaving, he could more or less guess it. It was the choice Zhiyu had made as soon as he came back; he wouldn¡¯t stay in the capital for much longer. Xie Ke didn¡¯t plan to stay in the capital either. Naturally, he would go wherever Zhiyu went, and no matter where he went, he had to protect Zhiyu. Xie Ke¡¯s ability to protect him, after all, was different from his own ability. Zhiyu could not afford to do anything else to protect himself but to improvise. Now that Zhiyu was leaving, it was not that Xie Ke couldn¡¯t stop him, but what was the point of stopping him? What was the point of following him? Zhiyu was still indifferent and wouldn¡¯t change in the slightest because of his behaviour. Zhiyu¡¯s words, paraphrased by Shen Yang, somewhat made Xie Ke understand why he had been working hard but made no progress at all. ¡°The past between Zhiyu and me was too painful,¡± he said. ¡°I¡­ always thought that it was because I didn¡¯t show enough love for him before that I made him so disappointed and uncomfortable, but it was not so. You see, I have been wrong all along.¡± All his efforts were trying to repair the relationship between him and Zhiyu, but Zhiyu didn¡¯t want to repair this so-called relationship with him. ¡°After I came back, I should have done everything for him, not so that we could start over again. The purpose was too strong and instead, I was getting farther and farther away from him,¡± Xie Ke seemed to think clearly. He stood up and said, ¡°I¡­ I¡¯m going to find him. Zhiyu, he deserves to know all these things.¡± The hunting ground was some distance from the capital, and when Xie Ke returned there, he already saw the billowing smoke floating over the palace. ¡°Zhiyu has already left,¡± he wasn¡¯t in a hurry, took a deep breath and said, ¡°I know¡­ where he will go.¡± There were only a few routes between the capital and Jiangnan, and the Shadow searched all night and found the trail in Jingyang City, not far from the capital. In fact, Fu Zhiyu wasn¡¯t surprised that Xie Ke came looking for him. As soon as he left the capital, he separated from Dr. Chen and the others, and travelled alone, just for this. He met Xie Ke in the building of the chamber of commerce. Fu Zhiyu slept well last night and was in a very calm mood this morning. On the contrary, Xie Ke was all messy and looked a little out of his mind. ¡°After all these things have been successful, doesn¡¯t General Xie feel happy?¡± Fu Zhiyu tilted his head to look at him, ¡°I thought you would go celebrate.¡± Xie Ke smiled bitterly, shook his head, and said, ¡°Zhiyu, I was doing all this for you.¡± ¡°No,¡± Fu Zhiyu shook his head, ¡°You are doing it for yourself. To get me is not for me. After all, I don¡¯t want to be with you anymore. So, it¡¯s just for yourself.¡± Xie Ke couldn¡¯t refute it. He looked at Fu Zhiyu, feeling hollow for a long time, and then said, ¡°I¡­ I won¡¯t be like this in the future, Zhiyu, I will change.¡± Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t listen. He smiled and said, ¡°If you were really changing, you wouldn¡¯t catch up and block me now.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not stopping you this time, really not. You can go wherever you want.¡± Xie Ke hurriedly explained, ¡°I just want to¡­ make one thing clear to you. The truth about the previous life, I¡¯m sorry, for various reasons, I haven¡¯t made it clear to you before.¡± The truth? This word really made Fu Zhiyu a little bit interested in Xie Ke¡¯s intentions, and he finally raised his head and looked directly into Xie Ke¡¯s eyes. CH 60 Fu Zhiyu had long known about the so-called mission world, but as time went on, he was actually puzzled, feeling that what he saw was not everything there was to see. If, as he had always thought before, Xie Ke was just doing it for points, now he spent much more points, props and energy than he had gained back then. This contrast made Xie Ke¡¯s behaviour seem very strange and illogical. In addition, there was his so-called ¡°I knew I was in love with you a long time ago¡± rhetoric. There was indeed more truth to it, wasn¡¯t there? Fu Zhiyu had thought about delving into it before, but was frustrated by Xie Ke¡¯s various actions. He didn¡¯t want to have more entanglement with Xie Ke, nor did he want to repeat the same mistakes again. This emotion made him suppress the pursuit of the so-called truth. But now in this situation, probably Xie Ke had finally discovered something, right? ¡°Zhiyu, you¡­ have seen the Lord God, right?¡± Xie Ke took a deep breath and finally asked these words. ¡°Yes,¡± Fu Zhiyu thought for a while, and didn¡¯t deny it. ¡°After I died in my previous life, I stayed with the Lord God for a long time. It told me about the whole world, and it also told me about actors like you.¡± Xie Ke¡¯s mind was blank for a moment. Even if he had heard the system say it and he was ready, when the words really came out of Fu Zhiyu¡¯s mouth, he still felt unreal, as if someone punched him in the head. ¡°The Lord God¡­ what did it say about me?¡± Fu Zhiyu thought for a while and said, ¡°You are a very good actor and can be ranked in the top three among all actors. Before you rebooted the world, the Lord God had a pretty good opinion of you.¡± ¡°It also said something about points?¡± ¡°Of course.¡± Fu Zhiyu said, ¡°It told me that you scored well in this world and earned a lot of points.¡± After Xie Ke finished listening, he smiled bitterly, and then asked: ¡°Did the Lord God mention that the world of ¡®His Name Will Live On in History¡¯ was very special?¡± Fu Zhiyu remembered that the Lord God had mentioned it. It said that the world of ¡°His Name Will Live On in History¡± was a super-advanced world with high difficulty in playing. This kind of ancient world with no supernatural powers and no high technology had the least number of loopholes that could be exploited, and the time span was so large that one really had to play for decades, with few places to pull the progress bar. There were many characters, and the plot could drift off if one wasn¡¯t careful, resulting in points being deducted. It was because of this that the world of ¡°His Name Will Live On in History¡± was considered the super-advanced world for the actor. Xie Ke hadn¡¯t waited for Fu Zhiyu¡¯s answer, he went on: ¡°The Lord God didn¡¯t mention to you¡­ that this was the world that me, or rather my organisation, had been preparing for for a long time to advance?¡± This¡­ the Lord God didn¡¯t say. Fu Zhiyu frowned, not immediately understanding the meaning of Xie Ke¡¯s words. ¡°The actors have a clear class stratification. The higher you rank, the greater the pressure. What¡¯s more, the managers of major organisations like ours are not only responsible for themselves,¡± Xie Ke said. Recalling the previous events, he felt as if he was another person at that time. ¡°¡¯His Name Will Live On in History¡¯ is such a level that requires the actor to score 90 points. Only in this way could I break through the bottleneck and truly meet everyone¡¯s expectations and become the first person to play this kind of role.¡± To reach such a point, it wasn¡¯t Xie Ke¡¯s efforts alone, the resources of the entire organisation were piled up. But it was Xie Ke¡¯s responsibility alone as an actor to make the entire organisation go further. The world of ¡°His Name Will Live On in History¡± was the world where he could only succeed and not fail. Advertisements In a sense, Xie Ke even became the representative of all the actors. The routine scoring requirement for an actor is only 60 points. But 60 points is easy, going higher is difficult. Reaching a 90-point rating in the super-advanced world was naturally even more difficult. Xie Ke had this ability. In the end, he lived up to expectations and scored 90.5 points. From the 9.5 points deducted, 9 points came from Fu Zhiyu and 0.5 points came from Shen Yang who went crazy in the end. ¡°Oh, that¡¯s quite important.¡± After Fu Zhiyu finished listening, he lowered his head and took a sip of tea, and thought for a while, ¡°Under such circumstances, it makes sense for you to choose to give up on me.¡± ¡°No, Zhiyu,¡± Xie Ke said with a wry smile, ¡°I felt at that time that I had never given up on you.¡± Fu Zhiyu was taken aback for a moment, and a mouthful of tea stuck in his throat. In fact, what Xie Ke said before, about this mission being particularly important and so on, it was not that he hadn¡¯t thought about it and to him these things were nothing. But Xie Ke¡¯s next words made him puzzled. What do you mean¡­ never given up on him? ¡°As I said before, my organisation has invested a lot in this world to ensure that nothing went wrong. This contribution included all aspects.¡± Xie Ke said, ¡°When the actor organisation reaches that level, it is possible to find channels for cheating. But now that I think about it, I would rather that we have never made such efforts. Zhiyu, I received news as soon as I entered this world. There was another actor in the world. The task he received was an interference task that differed from the original.¡± The fact that the mission of ¡°His Name Will Live On in History¡± was complicated to the extent that it even engaged an interfering actor reinforced Xie Ke¡¯s desire to win and strengthened his determination to make the mission a success. ¡°Zhiyu, from the beginning, I thought you were the interfering actor. Only your performance deviated from the original plot.¡± Xie Ke said, ¡°You also meet almost all the characteristics of the interfering actor. I tested it with props, and there was no problem with the data of other people. Only you were blocked. I even asked 027 to check it carefully again, and I confirmed it over and over again. The role played by another actor was Fu Zhiyu.¡± Fu Zhiyu: ¡°¡­What are you talking about?¡± He couldn¡¯t believe it; the Lord God had never mentioned this to him. Advertisements ¡°When the actor tried to enter the world, he had an accident that had never happened before. The actor couldn¡¯t get rid of the original data. He has never entered this world. Zhiyu, you have been special from the beginning,¡± Xie Ke said, ¡°But I didn¡¯t know about it. I only found out about this accident when I tracked it down later¡­ I always thought you were an actor. Just like me, you could pull the progress bar, block the pain and know all the plots of the book.¡± Knowing full well that Fu Zhiyu was actually acting too, knowing full well that he was deliberately interfering with the plot lines, there were times when Xie Ke looked into those eyes and instantly forgot exactly what he was doing. The Lord God¡¯s system had bottom-line rules for the actors. When performing a task, you must treat yourself completely as the character, and you cannot show any hint of ¡°I am an actor¡± in the world, even under the shielding of the props. As long as a violation was detected, the mission would be judged as failure immediately. When he was in this world, Xie Ke couldn¡¯t show his true feelings to the person he liked. He used all the shielding props he had in this world so that he could have a short respite in the plot without being deducted points. Most of the time, he used this opportunity with Zhiyu. The most obvious thing he said when in bed was ¡°Wait for a little longer¡± and ¡°It¡¯s just a temporary grievance.¡± For the actor¡¯s endless acting life, these decades could indeed be considered ¡°a little longer¡±, but for indigenous data, it was a lifetime. ¡°I really didn¡¯t know,¡± Xie Ke said, his hands shaking uncontrollably. ¡°I thought that after I finished this mission, I could find you and tell you everything. I wanted to tell you that I had long liked you. It didn¡¯t matter if you didn¡¯t do this interference task well. Now I had the highest authority and could protect you from now on. I never thought that you were just abnormal data from start to finish, and I¡­ even killed you with my own hands, because I thought at that time that this was just helping you get out of the world on time.¡± It is also part of the role of the actor to leave the world on time. According to the plot, the character Fu Zhiyu was indeed going to die during that time. This was nothing to the actor. Blocking the pain, he really didn¡¯t feel anything. It was just a normal procedure. Xie Ke himself didn¡¯t know how many times he had experienced it. He naturally did it and didn¡¯t think there was anything wrong. He originally thought that he and Fu Zhiyu had only met the right person at the wrong time. Fu Zhiyu happened to receive this interference task; although they were rivals, they were also a rare fate. But he didn¡¯t expect that he was wrong to begin with. ¡°I thought I chose a path that was good for both of us,¡± Xie Ke said. When he said this, his voice trembled, ¡°But it turned out that it was the worst path.¡± Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t make a sound while he was talking. He waited until Xie Ke had finished speaking before taking a long breath. Xie Ke felt that he seemed to relax all of a sudden. ¡°I really appreciate you telling me this,¡± Fu Zhiyu said slowly. ¡°After all, I even thought I was the one with the problem before.¡± It was about the first time in a long while that he actually spoke to Xie Ke in such a heartfelt way, without being perfunctory or indifferent. ¡°You, Shen Yang, Yuan Mingdao, my mother, the Yuan family¡­ The people I love dearly do not love me, the people I have given to betray me, the people I want to protect leave me. Why did all these things have to happen to me? For a long time¡­ I felt that it was my own fault, that I had asked for too much, that I had harmed Mingdao and the others.¡± He said, ¡°Xie Ke, in all fairness, I have to thank you too. After all, it was you who made this world reboot so that I can have all these things again and let me know¡­ that many things were not my fault.¡± After Xie Ke heard these words, he felt a little disbelief and hope in his heart. Zhiyu, he¡­ But Fu Zhiyu¡¯s next words made his heart sink in an instant. ¡°But it¡¯s too late,¡± Fu Zhiyu said, ¡°If I heard all this earlier in my previous life, maybe¡­¡± He didn¡¯t say anything else about this ¡°maybe¡± possibility. He thought for a while and said to Xie Ke: ¡°Have you actors never really experienced what it feels like to die?¡± Xie Ke was speechless; he shook his head. The death of the actor was probably the time when the missions failed too many times and he was wiped out by the system. The rest of the so-called ¡°death¡± was only the moment when the mission was over and it was time to leave the world. The body would feel light for a while, and then after the buzzing sound in your mind, the system¡¯s tone would come. Then you would open your eyes again, and you would return to the actor¡¯s space. There was no extra feeling in the whole process. ¡°Let me tell you, the death of people like us is different from yours. It was a very painful moment,¡± Fu Zhiyu said. ¡°It was obviously a very short moment, but I seemed to remember my whole life. All the pain and unwillingness emerged, like the scars all over my body. At that moment, after experiencing such a moment of death, it seemed¡­ I became a new person.¡± CH 61 ¡°Zhiyu¡­¡± ¡°I haven¡¯t finished speaking yet, you don¡¯t have to be so excited,¡± Fu Zhiyu said; his mood had returned to calm, ¡°After I have listened to it, I actually understand all your choices. I have said a long time ago that even if you were doing it just for points, I also understood your choice, because I didn¡¯t think you loved me at all back then. What I didn¡¯t expect just now was that you really liked me. But so what? We missed it, Xie Ke, we have missed it. You will understand after you have died once. It hurts too much. Even if you say that you didn¡¯t want to hurt me like this, it doesn¡¯t mean that everything doesn¡¯t count. The hurt was real, and it can¡¯t be removed casually because of this so-called truth.¡± The truth came too late. If he could hear these words in his previous life and know what Xie Ke really thought, maybe there would be room for manoeuvre between the two of them, but now it was impossible. ¡°Do you have anything else?¡± Fu Zhiyu asked Xie Ke after he finished speaking, ¡°So far, we have already said everything¡­ Do you want to persist?¡± ¡°But¡­ I just came back for you.¡± After all these things were said, the thing that scared Xie Ke the most happened. He didn¡¯t think that Zhiyu would accept him after the so-called truth was told. What he still hoped for was that if Zhiyu could understand all this, at least his attitude could be loosened a little bit, just a little bit. At least it could give him a way to go. But in reality, the worst thing came true. Zhiyu completely let go; he could finally define his past relationship as a failure, and had finally given Xie Ke a death sentence. ¡°Zhiyu¡­¡± Xie Ke didn¡¯t know what to say. He couldn¡¯t hold back his tears and struggled to hold Fu Zhiyu¡¯s hand on the table, ¡°We obviously love each other, obviously¡­ We have loved each other for a long time, why did it become like this?¡± Fu Zhiyu couldn¡¯t give him an answer, he just felt that it was all a matter of turning over the new page, and there was no point in entangling each other anymore. ¡°You go,¡± he said, ¡°and play your role. You may really not be suitable for talking about feelings with people like us.¡± Xie Ke didn¡¯t say anything like ¡°I¡¯m not leaving¡± anymore. He lowered his head. Fu Zhiyu heard his muffled voice, choking back a sob, ¡°Zhiyu, do you want me to leave?¡± Fu Zhiyu drew his hand back, nodded without hesitation, and said, ¡°I want you to leave.¡± At this time, it was useless to say anything. Xie Ke only felt that everything was blurred in front of his eyes. The memories he brought up and Fu Zhiyu in front of him made his heart ache. He stood up and finally hugged his sweetheart tightly. ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± he sobbed, ¡°I didn¡¯t want to hurt you like this, I just¡­¡± Fu Zhiyu felt bored; he didn¡¯t finish listening to these words and pushed Xie Ke away at once. He felt that Xie Ke had indeed changed a little. When he first came back, he tricked him into that small courtyard. He was so strong and refused to let go no matter what; but now, it was easy to push him away. Have I become stronger again? Fu Zhiyu thought about it carefully. Xie Ke didn¡¯t dare to touch him again. There was only such a short distance between him and Fu Zhiyu, but it felt like an abyss. ¡°You¡­ do you have anything else to say?¡± Fu Zhiyu frowned, ¡°I¡¯m leaving.¡± Xie Ke didn¡¯t answer. When Fu Zhiyu turned around and was about to leave, he heard Xie Ke¡¯s voice. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Zhiyu,¡± he said, choking, and his voice was a bit intermittent, ¡°But I love you, for a long time¡­ always¡­ love you.¡± Fu Zhiyu frowned, didn¡¯t answer, opened the door and went out, not paying attention to Xie Ke staying in the room. Advertisements ¡°Are you okay?¡± The man from the chamber of commerce asked him with concern, ¡°That person¡­¡± Fu Zhiyu turned and sat down on the couch. He waved his hand and didn¡¯t speak for a long time, as if remembering something. The man from the chamber of commerce stopped talking, lowered his head and poured Fu Zhiyu a cup of tea. Xie Ke stayed in the room and didn¡¯t come out, and Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t move. The two of them were frozen in different spaces until the cup of tea was completely cold. Fu Zhiyu raised his hand and rubbed his eyes, asking himself: ¡°If there is a reason for pain, can this reason make pain non-existent?¡± ¡°No¡­ It is still very unpleasant to think of it.¡± The man from the Chamber of Commerce didn¡¯t dare to answer; he glanced out, as if he had seen the gesture of the people outside. ¡°The man is gone,¡± he said, ¡°Those things¡­ do you want to put them away?¡± Fu Zhiyu tapped his fingers, then shook his head and said, ¡°No. Keep them at hand.¡± Yuan Jiangwen¡¯s merchant team had no less capable fighters than Yuan Jiangxing, the general guarding the frontier. Wealth needed to be guarded by force more than anything else. It was always dangerous for caravans to travel, not to mention the caravan that was carrying real silver. After Fu Zhiyu left the capital, he immediately found a group of people sent by Yuan Jiangwen. There were not many people in this team, about fifteen people. Fu Zhiyu specifically asked Yuan Jiangwen for this team, not just to protect himself. From the beginning, Fu Zhiyu felt that Xie Ke was his biggest enemy in leaving the capital. Fu Zhiyu had gotten a deep understanding of the actors¡¯ abilities in the system space but he didn¡¯t know how much Xie Ke could use them here and how much they could be used on him. It took time. Since the time of the Qianyuan Battle, he knew that the actor was actually not so omnipotent. Xie Ke really almost died when he came back, otherwise the Lord God wouldn¡¯t feel such a strong fluctuation from this world, and he was obviously not as good as before since that time. Fu Zhiyu felt it from the time he had kicked away the tip of Xie Ke¡¯s spear pointed at Lu Jian. Xie Ke could be killed in this world, right? Regardless of whether he died as an actor or not, Xie Ke in this world would be dead. As the Lord God said, he would never return to this free world again. But Fu Zhiyu chose not to hurry about it. When he realised it, the situation was at a stalemate. Xie Ke couldn¡¯t die at that time. He needed someone to press the Xue and Lin families down, like a spring. There was no better candidate except Xie Ke, and Fu Zhiyu needed him alive at that time. But now it was different. The Xue and Lin families were defeated, Emperor Qingyuan died, and the chains that bound Fu Zhiyu were loosened. He had now escaped from the capital, and no one could stop him. If Xie Ke hadn¡¯t come to talk to him about these things today, everything would have been very different. Fu Zhiyu was ruthless in his heart. Without this ruthlessness, he wouldn¡¯t have been able to sit in the position of emperor in his previous life while so much of his thoughts and feelings were spent on Xie Ke. Now, he had no love or hate for Xie Ke; there was only one criterion for judging: if this man had no other use but still decided to stand in his way, he had to die, nothing else. Jiangnan was the cleanest place in his heart. There were his mother and Mingdao, everything he cared about, everything he had once lost and now wanted to get back. He could endure the uncleanness in the capital because that place was originally a dirty pool, and how could it be possible to be alone in it? But he couldn¡¯t put up with it in Jiangnan. Advertisements Xie Ke¡¯s words did surprise Fu Zhiyu, and also made him stop his original plan for a while. He said that he didn¡¯t blame Xie Ke and he was sincere. Xie Ke was nothing to him. After learning the so-called truth of the past, if you think about it from another perspective, there was Xie Ke¡¯s responsibility to the organisation on one side and his lover on the other. With so much interfering information in the middle, there was no completely correct choice. You cannot eat the cake and have it. This was just a question that had no correct answer. But what Fu Zhie had experienced could never be erased. Fate was such that the two of them were not born to be lovers, but rather to be enemies. If the truth had come earlier, when Fu Zhiyu still had the passion to fight against Heaven, perhaps the ending would have been different. But that wasn¡¯t possible for Fu Zhiyu now. ¡°I¡¯m too lazy,¡± he murmured, ¡°whoever wants to fight, let them do it.¡± If Xie Ke really left, it would be a good ending. If he decided to come back and stop him, then¡­ The next day, Fu Zhiyu left Jingyang City. It was a rare occasion for him to wear a riding outfit; he didn¡¯t take a carriage and rode a horse like everyone else. But soon after leaving the city he heard the sound of horseshoes following closely behind. He stopped and turned his head to see that it was Xie Ke. Xie Ke didn¡¯t bring many people, only him and a few shadow guards. He still looked very depressed, but when he saw Fu Zhiyu stop his horse, he perked up and subconsciously smiled. He didn¡¯t get too close and the place where the horse stopped was also some distance away from Fu Zhiyu. ¡°Still catching up,¡± the merchant remembered Fu Zhiyu¡¯s order. In fact, he didn¡¯t recognise that this man was the world-famous Xie Ke. No matter who it was, there was no way to connect the chasing person in front of him with the decisive Xie Ke, ¡°Shall we¡­?¡± ¡°Too stubborn,¡± Fu Zhiyu also turned cold at that moment. ¡°Ready to draw your bows.¡± This distance was very suitable for bows and arrows. Fu Zhiyu knew that the body of Xie Ke, the actor, had been strengthened, but he had already been injured at the time of the Qianyuan Battle, and his body wasn¡¯t as good as before. He wasn¡¯t copper-skinned and iron-boned anymore. Fu Zhiyu specially asked Yuan Jiangwen to make a batch of arrows, and he had these arrows in his hands now. The craftsmen worked for the whole day and only made a total of little more than a dozen arrows, all of which were here. They had been tested before, and even the hardest stones could be broken by them. The people in the caravan looked at Fu Zhiyu¡¯s gesture and drew their bows simultaneously. The two sides were almost face to face. Even if the pursuers moved fast enough, the caravan still had some advantage. Even though the men from the caravan couldn¡¯t recognise Xie Ke, they could see that those people were all well-trained. There were just a few of these refined arrows. If the opponents avoided them, there would be a fierce battle. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, he¡­ won¡¯t necessarily dodge,¡± Fu Zhiyu showed a weird smile, ¡°He loves me, doesn¡¯t he?¡± Xie Ke really didn¡¯t dodge. He watched Fu Zhiyu draw the bow and aim the arrow at him, the expression on his face as indifferent as ever. The smile he showed suddenly froze on his face. Zhiyu did it on purpose, right? He chose a bow and arrow this time, just like him back then. Zhiyu¡­ wants me to die, right? The shadow guards around Xie Ke reacted quickly, drawing their swords and beating down most of the arrows. Only Fu Zhiyu¡¯s arrow had great strength and speed, and even the accuracy was impeccable. Xie Ke felt that at that moment, he seemed to be Fu Zhiyu who was killed by an arrow through the heart by his beloved without knowing anything at that time. He finally realised how much it hurt when you were approaching death. The hellish moment of regret, unwillingness and pain was unforgettable. CH 62 Actors had no memory at the beginning. Xie Ke didn¡¯t remember what his past was. He seemed to be born like this, a blank person. After receiving the number of 027 and a system, one task at a time, the so-called past was not so important anymore and, anyway, it was indistinguishable. But he remembered some things very clearly. In the beginning, it was very difficult for the actors to survive; they had to figure out almost everything by themselves, carrying the risk of being wiped out. When they were assigned to the system, they were given an ¡°Actors¡¯ Handbook¡±, which was very thin and didn¡¯t contain much content, just some basic rules and point rewards and redemption. The title page of the handbook contained a passage that was the most basic taboo of the actor and that was still in use to this day. ¡ª No actor, in any mission world, under any circumstances, can reveal their identity as an actor, or they will instantly fail. The only way to pass is to see yourself as the character, to have a deep respect for the world of the mission, and to gain the recognition of the world. There was also a line of small print of unknown meaning in the bottom of the title page, which said: True is not true, false is not false. The handbook was still issued, but new actors didn¡¯t read it. After all, there were now organisations of all sizes, and newcomers could easily join a group. It was better to communicate with each other in a group and share acting experience than to fight alone. The advice and explanation of the predecessors was much better than a dry manual. Xie Ke couldn¡¯t say that it was a bad thing; after all, he had started the first organisation, and the communication and cooperation between the actors allowed them to grow quickly, to have protection and to reduce the risk of being wiped out. But later, things seemed to start going in another direction that was out of control. Over time, the Lord God began to be a little unable to suppress some of the actors and was adding management patches, but these patches couldn¡¯t make up for the actors¡¯ ambitions. Xie Ke discovered that at some point most actors stopped calling themselves actors, they started calling themselves ¡°players¡±. The passage on the title page now only contained the sentence ¡°You can¡¯t reveal the identity of the actor, otherwise you will be immediately judged to fail and kicked out of the world¡±. As for the later sentence ¡°Respect the mission world¡±, it was forgotten a long time ago. It was easy to understand how this could happen. Most of the actors played the protagonists, and even if they didn¡¯t play the protagonists, they also had extraordinary and important supporting roles. If a person, knowing everything that is going to happen in this world, also knows that he or she is destined to become the most important person in this world, and even has such features as blocking the pain, pulling the progress bar and exchanging points for optimised props, anyone will naturally develop a sense of pride of a master. With this kind of perception that you and the aborigines were two different species, it was difficult for the actors to treat the people from the original worlds as equals. No one would take the mission world seriously, just feeling that it was a game, having no respect for it. The ¡°players¡± began to become too smug. Advertisements Xie Ke actually didn¡¯t think so much. He was born to do missions. As he continued to do tasks one by one, he seemed to have naturally risen to the top. He didn¡¯t need to rely on other things to gain a sense of superiority; he had always been superior. But at the same time, a question gradually was born in his heart. Where was the end of the actor? It was actually meaningless to keep saving points like this. What you earned from one world was invested in another world. It was like spinning around, getting really boring after a long time. It seemed to be in an infinite loop, not leading anywhere. When Xie Ke touched the boundaries of being an actor, he really felt a little different. ¡°I didn¡¯t expect you to get this far. The points you saved have reached a critical value. After completing this world as required, you will truly have higher authority than all other actors,¡± the Lord God said, ¡°Maybe this authority can give you the answer.¡± This so-called new authority made all actors very excited. They were even more excited than Xie Ke himself. They said that this was progress for everyone, saying that he could only succeed and not fail, messing around and getting all kinds of news and props to pile up in front of him. Xie Ke: ¡°¡­¡­¡± Before entering the world, he had carefully read the introduction of ¡°His Name Will Live On in History¡±. Although it was difficult, for Xie Ke, it seemed¡­ not very difficult? Just looking at the plot, he felt that it was similar to some of the advanced missions he had done before. The judgement rule that required more than 90 points was a bit difficult to handle. For the rest, as he looked at it, he didn¡¯t understand what made this mission to be defined as a super-advanced mission. The interference task that was inquired about in the organisation wasn¡¯t actually something new. It had appeared before. It was one of the management patches on the side of the Lord God. It was mainly in the form of opposition to strengthen the difficulty and constrain the player. But before entering the world, even the role of the interferer was found out, which meant the effect of this interference would be greatly reduced and the constraints of the Lord God seemed to have no effect at this time. Xie Ke entered the world as planned. Everything was normal in front of him. Before meeting Fu Zhiyu, he had never received a prompt of point deductions from the system. But after meeting Fu Zhiyu, everything began to change slowly. Advertisements When he carried the person out of the ice lake, he knew that he had saved the wrong person. The system¡¯s point deduction prompt came in due course. Xie Ke didn¡¯t know how to remedy it. The accident happened a bit suddenly, and he didn¡¯t understand why Miss Xue wasn¡¯t here. Fu Zhiyu, who should have come into contact with him a few years later, appeared in advance. ¡­sure enough, he was an interferer who didn¡¯t play cards according to the rules and was able to make him lose points as soon as he appeared. Xie Ke suddenly became serious; he planned to go all out as he waited for the interferer¡¯s next move. He knew that the interferer was different from the actor. The actor¡¯s requirements were based on the script, whether it was the process or the result. However, the task received by the interferer was relatively free. As long as it didn¡¯t destroy the stability of the world, he could deviate from the character and choose his own means and methods. This interferer actually chose to play the emotional card and take Xie Ke by surprise; he really came prepared. While Xie Ke tried to straighten the plot, he carefully observed the interferer¡¯s every move. Although he was in charge of a huge organisation, most of the time he only communicated with a few regular old friends and had long since stopped interfering in much of the management work, only instructing the people below him what to do. Xie Ke, who spent most of his time on missions, had long been accustomed to various emotional routines. To be honest, when you already know the development of the plot, everything the other party does in the relationship, any emotion and shock will be greatly reduced. It seemed boring, and he had never been touched. But Fu Zhiyu in front of him was different. He clearly knew that the other was the actor, and everything he was doing was to interfere with his task, but Xie Ke sometimes looked at Fu Zhiyu and gradually lost his focus. What Fu Zhiyu gave him was completely different. It was the kind of meticulous kindness that was beyond his expectation. It was not that Xie Ke had not been treated well by others. However, Fu Zhiyu managed to turn his surprise into amazement, and gradually Xie Ke could not help but fall for him. He was a huge contrast with Fu Zhiyu in the original work, and he didn¡¯t completely revolve around himself. His own story line was very complete. Even if he deviated from the original work, he still had his own style, which showed the particularity and excellence of this person. He was a brilliant, naturally attractive person. All of this converged into a gradual uncontrollable temptation. When Xie Ke set out for the Qianyuan Battle, he felt that his own mood was different. At that time, he was walking the plot with Miss Xue in Aiwan Pavilion, but his heart was full of Fu Zhiyu. Will he come to see me, he thought absent-mindedly. According to the plot, the Qianyuan Battle would take more than a year, and he¡­ he missed Fu Zhiyu. Fu Zhiyu really came. Xie Ke couldn¡¯t describe how happy he was to see him at that time. It turned out that the heartbeat was like this; it made him happier than clearing any mission. How could there be such a lovely person in the world? Xie Ke was sincerely grateful that Fu Zhiyu was the one who received this interference task. Not only did they meet, but Fu Zhiyu also allowed Xie Ke to see his true side that wasn¡¯t bound by the plot. When they stayed with the old shepherd couple, Xie Ke was even more sure that the person in front of him really liked him. He enjoyed the moment when Fu Zhiyu said that he loved him with indescribably tenderness in his eyes. But that was really not the right time. Just wait for this mission to be completed. When he had the authority, he could give Zhiyu whatever he wanted. Xie Ke tried to hint countless times and give Zhiyu a sign about his current situation, but every time he only saw a blank look in Zhiyu¡¯s eyes. This blankness gradually turned to disappointment, and then to dead silence. The well-trained Xie Ke understood these as the discomfort of having failed most of his interference tasks. He ignored the instinctive feeling that something was wrong. It was okay, it was okay, he comforted himself. After the mission was over, there would be opportunities to explain and compensate Zhiyu. But when Fu Zhiyu left this world, the one who was in a daze was Xie Ke. He was still walking the plot. After Zhiyu left, no accidents happened again, and he hadn¡¯t heard the system¡¯s point deduction prompt for a long time. But he became restless and impatient. The further he went, the more he felt that without this person what he was doing was meaningless. He originally did this mission to find an answer; becoming the actor who broke through the bottleneck and had the brand new authority might be part of this answer. What if these were actually not important in the first place? What if¡­ Zhiyu was the answer? Xie Ke felt as if he was caught in the trap he had set up, and he couldn¡¯t figure out if he was putting the cart before the horse. The new authority, the expectations of the organisation, and everything else were intertwined. He couldn¡¯t tell what was what. He just felt that his mood was getting worse and worse. In the later stage, he had to work hard to suppress his impatience before he could reluctantly go on with the task. The only thing that kept Xie Ke going was Fu Zhiyu, who appeared in his mind in his midnight dreams. Zhiyu had already left this world, and he couldn¡¯t look back. He could only continue to go forward. After success, he would explain. He couldn¡¯t wait to tell Zhiyu that he was strong enough to protect him now. And¡­ he missed Zhiyu, missed him so much. After he succeeded, he could be with Zhiyu for a long time, right? CH 63 Except for the time when Shen Yang suddenly went crazy, all the subsequent acting tasks went smoothly. But Xie Ke really didn¡¯t feel that he had lied to Shen Yang at that time. Zhiyu was indeed not dead. He was waiting for him in the actor¡¯s space, but Shen Yang, the native data, couldn¡¯t see it. After seeing his score, Xie Ke only felt that a big stone fell from his heart. He felt relieved, but he didn¡¯t think of any important authority and congratulations from the organisation for the first time. He had only one thought in his mind: I can finally go to Zhiyu. He had already obtained the new authority, and no one could stop him from being with Zhiyu, right? He found out the number of the interferer, and even maintained Xie Ke¡¯s appearance in ¡°His Name Will Live On in History¡±. He went to that person¡¯s actor space and carefully prepared a gift, intending to formally confess to Zhiyu. Finally, he was able to truly express his feelings to Zhiyu without being restricted by the plot, which made Xie Ke¡¯s heart surge. He couldn¡¯t help showing a silly smile of someone foolishly in love. But when he saw the actor, before he even said a word, just by looking at that person¡¯s eyes, he immediately felt something was wrong. It was as if a pot of cold water was poured over his head, and it seemed that some illusion had finally been shattered, revealing the cruel truth. He was not Zhiyu! Absolutely not! The actor looked confused after seeing Xie Ke. This was not a public area. He had never seen anyone appear in the actor¡¯s private space before, and he didn¡¯t react at once. Seeing the expression of the man who suddenly appeared in his space ¨C as if he had been struck by lightning ¨C he instinctively felt something was wrong and wanted to run quickly, but Xie Ke pulled him back. ¡°You are not him, you are not Zhiyu,¡± he was like a demon who had completely lost his mind, ¡°Say, what have you done? What have you done! What did you do to Zhiyu?¡± The actor actually didn¡¯t understand what the intruder was doing, but he was experienced and quickly captured the key point. Zhiyu, Fu Zhiyu? It was the character that was fresh in his memory. Advertisements This was the first time he had received an interference task. This kind of task was like an Easter egg in the actor¡¯s career. It was a bit special. If you did it well, you would get a lot more rewards than for ordinary tasks. He cherished this opportunity, but he didn¡¯t expect it to become a failure right at the beginning. He couldn¡¯t log in to that role. Every time he tried, an invisible barrier pushed him back. After trying many times, it was still fruitless. After he reported an error, there was no reply from the Lord God. The actor waited for a long time and received part of the compensation, but the reason wasn¡¯t explained. He was told that the task had already begun, and this matter was considered over. He always felt that the data on the Lord God¡¯s side was wrong, and perhaps two actors, including himself, received the same task. The ¡°other person¡± logged in early, so he couldn¡¯t log in. After Xie Ke listened to this explanation, he relaxed a little bit. ¡°There must be another person, there must be another actor,¡± he muttered to himself, trying to force himself to believe this sentence, ¡°I¡­ will be able to find Zhiyu soon.¡± But there was another possibility; Xie Ke thought of it, but he didn¡¯t want to think about it, or rather, he didn¡¯t dare to think about it at all. What if Zhiyu was not an actor at all, he was just an abnormal data. What should he do? Zhoyu would disappear and would never come back. The people in the organisation didn¡¯t understand why Xie Ke didn¡¯t do other important things as planned after his successful return. Instead, he spent all his energy to track down the interferer, a less important supporting role in this world. Only a few friends who had been following him felt that something was wrong. It was the first time they had seen Xie Ke completely lose his calmness and become so crazy. So they didn¡¯t say a word, they just helped him find this person. But as the matter was explored deeper and deeper step by step, the truth was really unacceptable. Everyone could see it; but no one dared to really say this sentence in front of Xie Ke, only watching him continue to go crazy and finally collapse. There was no other actor, never had been, only the abnormal data that must have been automatically deleted a long time ago. Xie Ke didn¡¯t know how to describe how he felt when he finally accepted the truth. It was as if his soul had been drained, and he spent long hours cowering in a space where he was alone, recalling all the details of his time with Zhiyu over and over again. Why hadn¡¯t he realised that something was wrong earlier? Obviously in the last few years, Zhiyu¡¯s disappointment was so real, why didn¡¯t he feel it at that time, he asked himself. Zhiyu never pretended or acted. He loved him so sincerely and gave him everything he could give. ¡­And what did he do? Xie Ke couldn¡¯t describe his mood at that time. Words such as grief and regret were too little. He was tortured by the pain of killing his lover with his own hands, and for the first time he felt the meaning of the phrase that life was worse than death. He hated himself; he wanted to flay himself alive and eat his bones, but the pain was pointless; because Zhiyu was gone. No matter how regretful he was, he couldn¡¯t find him. It was only then that Xie Ke really understood that the so-called organisation and the so-called authority were nothing in front of that person. He had been trying to find an answer for his life as an actor with no starting point and no end. Zhiyu was the real answer, but he had lost it by himself. Advertisements Some people in the organisation were frightened by his appearance. Some of the people in charge of scouting the information went over to him because of the interferer¡¯s mistake with a look of anxiety and apologies. Even the 027 system couldn¡¯t accept the look on its host¡¯s face and tried to take the blame for the mistake on itself, thinking that this might make the host feel better. ¡°Why¡­ are you guys apologising to me?¡± Xie Ke¡¯s face was blank when he listened; he didn¡¯t feel the slightest comfort. He only felt that greater pain surrounded him. ¡°It was me who did the most wrong. Zhiyu did nothing wrong but he went through the most painful time. I brought it all on him, but no one apologised to him. Why¡­ do you want to apologise to me?¡± ¡°Then Zhiyu, what about Zhiyu?¡± He was in a wretched state for a long time. The actor can¡¯t rest all the time, and there are mandatory tasks every once in a while. Xie Ke was in this state, and even if he was forced into the acting world, he didn¡¯t move at all. He would soon be deducted points until he failed and was kicked out of the world. Although he had enough foundation not to be obliterated, after two or three times, the Lord God became impatient and threw him into the punishment world. ¡°Wake up yourself,¡± the Lord God said, ¡°The actor must do a good job as the actor. Don¡¯t talk to me about feelings, I don¡¯t listen to this.¡± The punishment world was actually another form of task. It was a trash world with extremely disordered data, but there would be problems if the trash was piled up for a long time, so someone needed to deal with it. But in Xie Ke¡¯s state, wherever he went, he would be passive. The punishment world had no pain blocking, no progress bar function, and the use of props was prohibited. Xie Ke entered the punishment world for the first time. There were very few aborigines there. They were all mentally ill in the true sense. They looked strange and were very destructive. As soon as entered, one of his arms was cut off by a chainsaw. The pain block used to be activated automatically, and it was the first time Xie Ke, who had always had a smooth journey, experienced this kind of pain. This pain made him awake, and it also made him think of Zhiyu in an instant. Were the injuries Zhiyu once suffered for him also painful like this? Now that he was like this, could it be regarded as atonement for his sins? The 027 system deeply felt that it couldn¡¯t go on like this. If it went on like this, Xie Ke would be wiped out. ¡°If you are so decrepit, you can¡¯t save Fu Zhiyu, nor can you save yourself,¡± 027 said to him, ¡°I know what you want to do. The actor can¡¯t commit suicide. Fu Zhiyu is gone and you think it is meaningless to be alive. But if you die, you can¡¯t compensate for your previous mistakes, and if you die, you can¡¯t get Fu Zhiyu back. Xie Ke, if you give up now, no one will ever tell Fu Zhiyu that you once loved each other sincerely.¡± When Xie Ke heard these words, he had already been tortured by the punishment world to the point when he was injured all over. His whole body was like a bloody mass, and his face was like a death mask. He lay motionless in a tree hole. Outside, there were fierce aborigines patrolling, accompanied by the sound of chainsaws. ¡°Get up quickly, I won¡¯t say it a second time,¡± 027 said, ¡°For Fu Zhiyu, I have a way to try.¡± The last sentence of the system became Xie Ke¡¯s motivation. He relied on this only belief to get out of the punishment world, and then according to what the system said, he began to secretly collect some strange props, looking for something he could use to change things. The so-called new authority that he hated so much also came into play at this time, giving him the possibility of getting the medicine for regret. ¡°There are loopholes in the whole system to exploit, and the master brain is not an impenetrable thing,¡± 027 told him, ¡°As long as you make the world of ¡®His Name Will Live On in History¡¯ reboot, Fu Zhiyu¡¯s data may be reborn along with it.¡± This was Xie Ke¡¯s only hope, and for this hope, he could give anything. All the things accumulated before were exchanged by him like flowing water. The so-called power points and props were nothing; it took an extremely long time until the chance to reboot actually came. For the first time, he didn¡¯t enter the world as an actor. It was one aspect to reboot the world, and it was another aspect to let himself go in again. Although the safeguards were prepared, Xie Ke could feel his identity gradually melting without pain blocking, as if he was being roasted on a fire. Probably because he had experienced all kinds of pain during this period of time, this physical pain was nothing compared to the emotion he felt when he was about to meet Zhiyu. He didn¡¯t want to think about the consequences, he only had one thought in his heart: he was about to see Zhiyu again soon. The timing of Xie Ke¡¯s return was also coincidental. It happened to be when he rescued Zhiyu from the ice lake. He fished the person out of the hole in the ice. He looked at the face that he had been thinking about day and night, and he couldn¡¯t help but feel his eyes blur. That was the living Fu Zhiyu¡­ But the detail that the excited Xie Ke ignored was that Fu Zhiyu¡¯s eyes had been closed when he was rescued, and there was no that love-at-first-sight glance between the two of them. From the beginning, things were different from what he had imagined. CH 64 At the beginning of the reboot of the entire world of ¡°His Name Will Live On in History¡±, Xie Ke didn¡¯t know that Fu Zhiyu was also reborn. He really didn¡¯t plan to meet any accidents. After all, he had been through too many so-called surprises. All he could think about was being with Zhiyu again, pampering him more than ever before, trying to express all his love to Zhiyu clearly, and making up for all the regrets between them. He had survived such a long period of pain, relying on this expectation. It was indeed a great blow to know that Zhiyu was also reborn. At the beginning, Xie Ke mistakenly felt that the main reason why he had caused so much harm to Zhiyu in his previous life was because he wasn¡¯t honest enough, was distracted by other inexplicable elements, and never told his lover his true intentions. He thought that if he expressed himself enough and did enough, Zhiyu would come back. But it was only after he had really hit the wall that he realised that this wasn¡¯t the case. This was only useful if the other party still loved him. But Zhiyu clearly didn¡¯t love him anymore, and everything Xie Ke expressed made him extremely bored. It was a very painful thing to understand. There was an invisible barrier between him and Zhiyu, a barrier of all the hurt he had caused before, hurt that couldn¡¯t be erased, that couldn¡¯t be healed, and Xie Ke knew this, but he couldn¡¯t let go. It was impossible to let go. From the moment Zhiyu returned, Xie Ke was grateful to fate for giving him another chance. Even though Zhiyu was cold from the beginning to the end, just looking at him made Xie Ke happy. It was so much better than the hopeless life he had had before. At least now, Zhiyu was still by his side. But Zhiyu didn¡¯t like it. Every contact he made, even when Xie Ke appeared in front of him, made Zhiyu feel annoyed. Before going to the battlefield of the Qianyuan Battle, Xie Ke clearly understood this, which was one of the reasons why he chose to leave for the time being. It was a very difficult decision to leave. Although it was only temporary, the situation was such that Xie Ke wanted to protect the stability of the whole world. He waited in vain for Zhiyu in Aiwan Pavilion; from that time on, he knew that he should indeed leave. The Qianyuan Battle was a very important node, and walking through it again, Xie Ke felt very differently. It was the place where he and Zhiyu had made love in their previous life, but the memories were not very pleasant in retrospect. He thought it was a meeting of hearts, but for Zhiyu, it was the beginning of torment. Xie Ke found the old shepherds. The shepherds didn¡¯t know who he was, but they were still as gentle and cheerful as in the previous life, and they were very willing to open up and talk with him. Advertisements ¡°Did you make your lover unhappy?¡± The shepherd grinned and said, ¡°We also quarrel, but no matter how we quarrel, we will still be together.¡± ¡°¡­Why?¡± ¡°Because¡­¡± The shepherd pondered for a while and didn¡¯t seem to find a suitable adjective to describe it, ¡°Because when we are together, we are happier than when we quarrel, so we still get back together again.¡± Xie Ke also smiled and murmured, ¡°But we didn¡¯t just quarrel¡­¡± The shepherd saw that he was really confused and said the words ¡°love, trust and respect¡± to him, and told him about his experience. Xie Ke knew it in his heart, but he didn¡¯t get it right. He kept feeling that no matter how he expressed it, Zhiyu would misunderstand it as having ulterior motives, and the two of them had never been able to find a channel for normal communication. After he came back from the shepherds, he kept thinking about it carefully until the final battle. He was hit by a fire bolt from the barbarians. At that time, he was on the verge of death and was really anxious. He only felt that if it was truly the end, he had to see Zhiyu. The thoughts that were suppressed for a short time were surging uncontrollably, so he simply bandaged his injuries and set off to return to the capital. In fact, the injury was really not that serious at the beginning, so Xie Ke didn¡¯t use life-saving props when he arrived. While he was on his way, the wound worsened. When he returned to the capital, he saw Zhiyu after a long time, and then walked the line between life and death. After that Xie Ke felt that he seemed to understand a little bit. He no longer dared to touch Zhiyu as he did at the beginning. As the days passed, the more he looked at Zhiyu¡¯s attitude, the more things he understood. If he had been sincere to Zhiyu, no matter whether there was a barrier to communication or not, he would have been able to feel it. In the past, he had never let Zhiyu feel what he called sincerity. Even when he had just returned, he only caused Zhiyu distress; what he had made Zhiyu feel then was his selfishness, his completely selfish love. After all, he didn¡¯t care about Zhiyu¡¯s wishes, he just wanted the two of them to be together again. Xie Ke worked hard to change. He knew that Zhiyu didn¡¯t like others staring at him, especially the Shadow. Even if he was worried about Zhiyu¡¯s safety, he gradually removed the shadow guards and didn¡¯t let himself interfere with Zhiyu too much. At the same time, he also tried to hold the power over the entire capital firmly in his hands, so that even if the Shadow didn¡¯t watch, Xie Ke knew that nothing would go wrong with his beloved one. Give him freedom and protect him. He was also carefully looking for ways to really make Zhiyu happy. Even if he was jealous of the men and women in the backyard of the residence and there was Lin Miaotang who appeared later, Xie Ke tried his best to suppress his inner emotions and go along with Zhiyu¡¯s wishes. In fact, he had guessed very early that Zhiyu wouldn¡¯t stay in the capital for a long time. From the moment he knew that Zhiyu had chosen to pretend stupid, he faintly understood a little bit. Xie Ke never planned to be emperor. At first, he thought about pushing Xie Lin up, but he didn¡¯t expect Fu Yanran to take the initiative to find him. Advertisements Fu Yanran was very suitable. The Xie family held all the power, and there was no need to change dynasties and be accused by the world. Xie Lin was actually not ready to really sit on the throne. Everyone was very satisfied with this arrangement. No matter where Zhiyu went, he could follow him, and he would have the power to protect him wherever he went. This was Xie Ke¡¯s vision. He felt that if he took his time, Zhiyu would come back sooner or later. It didn¡¯t matter. He had time and patience. But telling the truth about all of this caused Xie Ke¡¯s so-called plan to be disrupted once again. He suddenly felt that he was still wrong. ¡°Do you know what it is like to die?¡± Fu Zhiyu asked him. Xie Ke had experienced what it was like to be worse than dead after losing Zhiyu, but he opened his mouth and didn¡¯t answer. The so-called life worse than death was his own choice, and he could only blame himself. Zhiyu was different. Because of the so-called misinformation he was killed by his lover; the pain given by others, especially when this ¡°other¡± was the man he loved with all his heart and soul for a lifetime, was really not the same thing as self-inflicted pain. At that time, Xie Ke actually understood a little bit of what Shen Yang said to him. He should have wanted to tell Zhiyu the truth about what had happened before. Because Zhiyu was the one who had gone through all this torture, Xie Ke couldn¡¯t keep him from knowing all the truth just because he was afraid. From now on, he was willing to leave it all to Zhiyu¡¯s choice. Whether he wanted to leave or stay, even if he didn¡¯t want to see him again¡­ If Zhiyu felt uncomfortable with his expectation of getting back together, he wouldn¡¯t do it anymore, wouldn¡¯t bother him anymore. As long as Zhiyu was happy. When Xie Ke chased after him, he really didn¡¯t expect Zhiyu to make such a move. He drew his bow at him, his face as indifferent as ever, but such Fu Zhiyu made Xie Ke feel the pain he had never known before, the kind of disbelief that went deep into the bone marrow, making him stop where he was, unable to come forward to say a word to explain. In his previous life, Zhiyu had never treated Xie Ke that way, no matter how disappointed he was. In this life, he chose to ignore everything. Xie Ke became accustomed to seeing his cold face, but only at this time did he feel Zhiyu¡¯s true feelings for him. That was the true cruelty under the appearance of indifference and laziness. He wants me to die. After Xie Ke felt this, he didn¡¯t think about dodging. He just watched the arrow being shot and sink into his chest accurately. He knew that Zhiyu¡¯s strength was increasing. Although they stopped the other arrows, this one couldn¡¯t be stopped; not to mention that he didn¡¯t even want to avoid it. The shadow guards watched all this. They had no time to take care of Fu Zhiyu, who was far away, and hurriedly sent Xie Ke back to the capital. The doctor who treated his back injury last time was still there, but the doctor was self-aware and knew that it was clearly not his merit last time that the young General Xie¡¯s injuries healed inexplicably. He could only carefully remove the arrow for Xie Ke, and then treat and bandage his wound. But the wound was too deep. To be honest, the doctor felt that the fact that Xie Ke hadn¡¯t died on the way back was already a miracle. He deeply doubted whether Xie Ke was some kind of demon to have lasted this long. ¡°You go out,¡± Xie Ke said to him, ¡°All go out, I want to be alone¡­ for a while.¡± The room was empty, with only the pungent smell of blood permeating it. ¡°027,¡± Xie Ke¡¯s voice was already very weak. When he said these words, he seemed to be whimpering, ¡°I thought¡­ I thought that the most painful time had passed. I saw Zhiyu, no matter how cold he was, but he came back, and I, I felt happy.¡± ¡°But no, ah¡­¡± He took a deep breath, ¡°Look, he hates me so much, he just¡­ wants me to die.¡± It was only then that Xie Ke felt the real pain compared with the injury to his chest. To be killed by someone you loved turned out to be so painful. ¡°I never wanted to stop him from leaving, never¡­¡± Xie Ke didn¡¯t hear 027¡¯s reply, talking to himself, ¡°I just wanted to tell him that he could go anywhere. I, I just didn¡¯t want him to leave in this way. He didn¡¯t have to do this¡­ There was no need, no need to wrong himself. I planned so much, all for him, I just wanted to tell Zhiyu, I wanted to give Jiangnan to him, I could do it¡­ as his place, I just wanted to tell him this¡­¡± CH 65 At the end of the gathering of four countries, there was such a big incident, but the Xie family didn¡¯t panic at all, and the newly enthroned Fu Yanran was also extremely calm. He quickly dealt with the Xue and Lin families and put the Crown Prince and the others into permanent detention according to the law, locking them up. By the way, he dealt with the Western Regions that participated in the conspiracy and then appointed Xie Lin as the regent according to the plan. Everything went very smoothly. However, there was no movement on Xie Ke¡¯s side. Everyone knew that Xie Lin was getting older; besides, he had another injury and wouldn¡¯t be able to last for a few years. In the future, the foundation of the Xie family would be handed over to Xie Ke. Even the people inside knew very well that in fact, all this was planned by Xie Ke. Even Shen Yang, who replaced Prime Minister Xue, had an unspoken cooperative relationship with him. But after all this was successful, this person disappeared. In the true sense, he was gone. He didn¡¯t appear at Fu Yanran¡¯s enthronement ceremony, as if he had vanished into thin air. However, no one dared to ask. After the entire capital was stabilised, the envoys of the four countries were allowed to leave. Before that, they were brought back from the hunting ground and then locked up in the embassies. Although they were ostensibly ¡°strictly protected in case of accidents,¡± everyone knew it was house arrest. It wasn¡¯t until a month after the enthronement ceremony that envoys were allowed to leave one after another. The ancient countries of the Western Regions ran the fastest, followed by Chen, but the Lord of Jing was left behind by Xie Lin and didn¡¯t know when he would leave. As for King Xidan, who didn¡¯t play cards according to the rules, he really didn¡¯t leave. After staying in the capital for a few days, he was asked to leave by Xie Lin very amicably. Before leaving, Xidan also met Fu Yanran in a friendly manner and said in front of the new emperor: ¡°I underestimated you.¡± Fu Yanran didn¡¯t look at him much and waved his hand with the meaning ¡°get out of here¡±. ¡°Do you know what happened when the Xie family signed the agreement with me after the Qianyuan Battle?¡± King Xidan said, ¡°Even Emperor Qingyuan didn¡¯t know. My first surrender was signed to Xie Ke, and I only signed it to him alone. I did serve him willingly.¡± ¡°Stirring up trouble is of no use to me,¡± Fu Yanran gave him a look, ¡°I know where my place is, I don¡¯t need to be reminded by King Xidan.¡± King Xidan¡¯s smile became more and more obvious. He stopped speaking, saluted Fu Yanran, turned to leave, but as if remembering something, turned back and asked, ¡°Is Xie Ke dead?¡± Fu Yanran glanced at him as if looking at a fool. ¡°I was thinking too much,¡± King Xidan sighed regretfully, and asked again, ¡°Fu Zhiyu, Wang Zhao, is he dead too?¡± Fu Yanran frowned and said, ¡°It is none of your business.¡± King Xidan didn¡¯t get any answer from him, so he finally left. He was ¡°sent¡± away by Lu Linhai all the way to the border between the two countries. The Lord of Jing then left, too. Princess Miaotang had recovered from her injuries. Fortunately, she hadn¡¯t officially been engaged with Wang Zhao. If it had happened, she would be a widow even before she was married. Advertisements Du Yin was in charge of the escort. He rode a horse next to the princess¡¯s carriage. As soon as he left the capital, he saw Lin Miaotang secretly lift the curtain, look around, stare at Du Yin for a long time and whisper to him: ¡°General Du?¡± ¡°Is there something wrong with the princess?¡± ¡°Where is Wang Zhao?¡± she asked, ¡°I¡­ don¡¯t believe he just died like this.¡± ¡°If you don¡¯t believe it, I can¡¯t help it,¡± Du Yin said. ¡°Everyone has their own destiny.¡± Lin Miaotang wiped her eyes and then said in a small voice: ¡°I know¡­ He saved me at that time, I heard his voice.¡± Du Yinka glanced at her without answering. ¡°Actually, I woke up a long time ago, but Father changed my medicine. He said that it was safer for me to sleep,¡± Lin Miaotang said. ¡°I don¡¯t even know what happened. When I woke up, the whole world changed.¡± Du Yin still didn¡¯t say anything. He was always taciturn, and naturally he wouldn¡¯t say a word about this matter. ¡°The only thing I remember very clearly was when His Highness Wang Zhao found me,¡± Lin Miaotang said. ¡°I know he was there. There was another person. He came with him. He was the young General Xie.¡± Lin Miaotang¡¯s hand lay on the edge of the window, tightly clasping the wood of the carriage. ¡°After I came round, they said that it was the young General Xie who saved me,¡± she said, ¡°No, he, he did it on purpose.¡± Lin Miaotang wasn¡¯t stupid, not to mention that she had heard so much. Later, it was said that His Highness Wang Zhao burned to death in a fire, and Xie Ke disappeared with him. ¡°He also likes Wang Zhao, I heard it all,¡± Lin Miaotang said; her intuition for a rival seemed to be particularly keen, ¡°No wonder, at that time, the Thirteenth Prince¡­ no, His Majesty, said that, said that¡­ it was impossible for me and Wang Zhao.¡± ¡°The princess should be careful with her words.¡± Lin Miaotang had held back these words for a long time, and only dared to say them when she left the capital. As for why she chose Du Yin, she knew that Du Yin was Xie Ke¡¯s confidant, it was no secret. ¡°Will he be nice to His Highness Wang Zhao?¡± Lin Miaotang said, ¡°He is, he is such a terrible person.¡± Du Yin didn¡¯t answer. ¡°But Wang Zhao is so good,¡± Lin Miaotang murmured again, ¡°He is very good-looking and gentle. Even if I can¡¯t marry him, I hope he will live well.¡± Du Yin glanced at her and suddenly said, ¡°The princess has talked to Wang Zhao many times. Do you know¡­ what happened to him before? Wang Zhao, did he ever mention it to you?¡± ¡°What?¡± Lin Miaotang raised her head with a confused expression, ¡°What¡­ what happened before?¡± Du Yin said a little more obviously: ¡°Didn¡¯t Wang Zhao tell you about the feelings that he experienced before?¡± ¡°Do you mean those concubines? I know about them,¡± Lin Miaotang felt a little uncomfortable after mentioning this, but she also grew up in the palace and wasn¡¯t so naive about this kind of thing, ¡°The imperial family can¡¯t avoid it.¡± ¡°No,¡± Du Yin shook his head, ¡°I¡¯m talking about the relationship between Wang Zhao and Xie Ke¡­ they might have been together before.¡± Du Yin actually regretted it a little bit when he said it, but he had already started, so he simply said it to the end. He wanted to know if Lin Miaotang had heard anything from Fu Zhiyu that could give him some understanding of this matter. Others didn¡¯t know Xie Ke¡¯s situation but he knew. Advertisements It was being dead without dying; just lying on the bed for a long time with his eyes closed. If it weren¡¯t for weak breathing, Xie Ke would be no different from a corpse. The Shadow told him everything about the situation at the time. In addition, Xie Ke explained a bunch of things before he fell into a coma, all of which were related to Fu Zhiyu. He repeatedly told them that they would never be allowed to disturb Fu Zhiyu for any reason. ¡­Xie Ke loved him so much that he had to protect him even after Fu Zhiyu almost killed him with an arrow? Du Yin really couldn¡¯t understand. He and Xie Ke had known each other since they were children. Obviously, Xie Ke and Fu Zhiyu had never seen each other before the ice lake. After the ice lake, it suddenly became like this. Was this love at first sight explainable? He also asked Nong Yu. After thinking about it for a long time, Nong Yu hesitated: ¡°I think¡­ they should have known each other for a long time.¡± Du Yin: ¡°??? I have no idea.¡± Xie Ke had been practising martial arts outside for a long time, and only returned to General Xie¡¯s residence at the age of twelve. Du Yin thought it might have been before he came back, but Nong Yu had no idea either. Wang Zhao had never been out of the capital when he was a child, and the two had no chance to meet, so it was even more impossible. Du Yin rarely was curious about anything, but he really wanted to find a reason for this matter. Wang Zhao was very good-looking, but just for good looks, there was really no need for Xie Ke to do all this. It was impossible for Xie Ke to explain to them why he liked Fu Zhiyu so much. Maybe he could find out why from Fu Zhiyu¡¯s point of view. This was why he couldn¡¯t help asking Lin Miaotang, but Lin Miaotang was as confused as he was. ¡°Have been together before¡­?¡± Because she had guessed it, she wasn¡¯t particularly shocked when she learned of this, but she was a little uncomfortable. The princess stared at the edge of the window for a long time, then said softly: ¡°His Highness Wang Zhao¡­ he is really a very gentle person.¡± ¡°I knew he didn¡¯t like me and didn¡¯t plan to marry me, but he really treated me well and saved me,¡± she murmured. ¡°If he likes someone, how nice he will be to the person he likes¡­ Even if just once, this person will be very lucky.¡± Du Yin was taken aback, and for the rest of the journey, he didn¡¯t speak again. Du Yin¡¯s heart was biassed. After all, he had been with Xie Ke for so long, and he followed Xie Ke in whatever he wanted to do. Only one Fu Zhiyu was an unexpected person. He really didn¡¯t feel how good Fu Zhiyu was. That person was lazy and indifferent; apart from his face, there seemed to be nothing special about him. He had repeatedly heard the Shadow¡¯s description of that arrow, from strength and speed to accuracy, impeccable. So many people in the Shadow had failed to stop the arrow, so there was no need to say more about the power of it. Du Yin began to sincerely admit that he underestimated Fu Zhiyu, wondering how many secrets were hidden under this person¡¯s harmless face, and what kind of experience he had with Xie Ke that made Xie Ke willing to become like this. It was precisely because of these many doubts that Du Yin quickly accepted a new order after escorting the Jing party and coming back to the capital. ¡°I¡­ I have never had a problem with Jiangnan as the fief of the Ninth Brother,¡± Fu Yanran said. He had become the emperor just a short while ago and hadn¡¯t switched his manners yet. He coughed, and then said, ¡°The young General Xie mentioned it to me a long time ago. The decree has been prepared. He wanted to tell the Ninth Brother the news in person, but he is now in a coma. I thought it could be delayed a bit, but I didn¡¯t expect him to still be thinking about it. Let¡¯s not drag it on, just go now.¡± The Fu dynasty had never had such a thing as a fief. Usually, a Wang was given some towns and villages, but never a fief. This was to prevent the Wangs from separating and isolating the imperial power. The area of Jiangnan was a treasure. Although it was far from the capital, there were wealthy people gathered there, and the prosperity was more than that of the capital. Setting this place aside was really digging a treasure from Jilin¡¯s heart. But Fu Yanran really accepted it well, not just in words. He had been prepared a long time ago. This was just one of his transactions with Xie Ke. He knew in his heart that whether he went Emperor Qingyuan¡¯s road or Xie Ke¡¯s road, it was because Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t fight for the throne that this whole Jilin country could be his. It was also because of Fu Zhiyu¡¯s help in the imperial garden that he had become the Fu Yanran now. Today, there were many people who could be a puppet emperor. If it weren¡¯t for the Ninth Brother, he wouldn¡¯t even be qualified to talk to Xie Ke. It was a gift or sorts. Although it was a bit expensive, the Ninth Brother deserved it. Xie Ke was unconscious, and Du Yin took the initiative to take on the errand of delivering the decree. CH 66 The matter of making Jiangnan Fu Zhiyu¡¯s fief was not that simple. What Xie Ke prepared for Fu Zhiyu was far more luxurious than being an average vassal. The reason for the reward was secondary. Anyway, as long as one had the power for this kind of reward, naturally any high-sounding reason could be made up. In this case, the so-called fact that Wang Zhao burned to death in the palace was not so important. It was enough to say that he was rescued by Heaven¡¯s blessing, and the rumours of burning to death were naturally dispelled. There was even more than one decree. One was for Yuan Jiangxing, who, according to the decree, no longer had to guard the border but was transferred to Jiangnan, where he became a military general under Fu Zhiyu. That¡¯s right, not only a fief but even an independent military power; Xie Ke was willing to give it all to Fu Zhiyu. ¡°In this way, Zhiyu can protect himself.¡± Those were Xie Ke¡¯s exact words that Du Yin heard. Before the man lost consciousness, he was still rambling about Fu Zhiyu, worrying. ¡°I know¡­ he doesn¡¯t want the power over Jilin anymore, not only because he is tired, but also partly because he is afraid,¡± Xie Ke said, talking to them or talking to himself, ¡°After the Qianyuan Battle, I knew that he still had the world in his heart, but he felt that he would do people a disservice if he was in power, so he didn¡¯t dare to touch it.¡± ¡°I gave him Jiangnan¡­ First, I wanted to tell him that there was no need to escape. This is his place in the world, as long as he wants it. With Jiangnan, he will at least not have a bad life and will not be bullied by others,¡± Xie Ke said. He sighed and coughed violently. ¡°If he doesn¡¯t want to manage Jiangnan, he can find someone he can trust. Yuan Jiangxing is fine, and Yuan Mingdao is fine. He just needs to enjoy it. If he is willing to try¡­ I always want him to have some hope for himself, he, he is actually a very good person. What happened before¡­ was all my fault.¡± After spending so much time together, Xie Ke also saw what Fu Zhiyu¡¯s mentality really was; if it weren¡¯t for the Yuan family and Yuan Mingdao, people he cared about still living in the world, he wouldn¡¯t have any motivation to do anything about it. Fu Zhiyu had almost no expectations for himself. He had very few desires. This Fu Zhiyu scared Xie Ke, making him feel afraid that he would suddenly disappear again. ¡°He doesn¡¯t want to see me, he can hate me as much as he wants,¡± Xie Ke said, ¡°But I hope he is fine.¡± Du Yin had gone to Jiangnan with such instructions. Although he was puzzled in his heart, as a soldier, he would do the things he was told. Someone would have to do it anyway, so he might as well go himself. Advertisements He didn¡¯t go to Jiangnan right away, first going to the border and giving the decree to Yuan Jiangxing. There was no other way. Although he knew that Fu Zhiyu was in Jiangnan and it was very likely that he was with Yuan Jiangwen, Yuan Jiangwen had a lot of merchant houses and countless branches under his control. No one knew exactly where Fu Zhiyu was and there had to be someone who accepted the decree. Yuan Jiangxing didn¡¯t seem to be surprised by the visitors from the capital. He could actually leave at any time. This place was high in the mountains and the emperor was far away, there were soldiers in his hands, and no one could control him. But Yuan Jiangxing had heard some rumours recently. He was very puzzled when he first heard that it was Fu Yanran who ascended the throne as the emperor. According to his vision, it was supposed to be either Xie Lin or Xie Ke, the latter slightly more likely. In the end, the result was really beyond his expectation. Moreover, Xie Ke disappeared inexplicably, and there was no news about him at all. So when he saw the decree, Yuan Jiangxing¡¯s expression became even more strange. According to logic, the decree should have been given to Fu Zhiyu first, making him the King of Jiangnan, and then to Yuan Jiangxing, the general who had been transferred to guard Jiangnan, telling him that his duties had changed and that he would only listen to Fu Zhiyu from now on. But Yuan Jiangxing received his own copy first. Although Fu Zhiyu¡¯s decree wasn¡¯t announced, he could guess most of it when he heard his own decree. Fu Zhiyu had mentioned Fu Yanran to him, but with this simple relationship, Yuan Jiangxing felt that it wouldn¡¯t be enough for the new emperor to give him Jiangnan. Du Yin stayed there for a while, and only a few days later did he receive the message from Yuan Jiangxing. ¡°Get ready to leave,¡± he said, ¡°Let¡¯s go to Jiangnan together.¡± This was about the time that he could meet Fu Zhiyu. It was also the first time in Du Yin¡¯s life that he had been to Jiangnan. It was almost winter now. If it were in the capital, the wind would already be freezing cold, but this was not the case in the south. The weather still had some warmth, and there was no winter desolation. Although the capital was prosperous, it had a bit of rough flavour, but the prosperity of Jiangnan was refined. People looked different from the capital in the north. Even the trees on the sides of the road looked much more beautiful and graceful. The so-called Jiangnan was not just a single city. What people called Jiangnan included the seven or eight cities along the Ming River. The fief given to Fu Zhiyu was from the middle of the Ming River to the border of Southern Xinjiang. This area included several of the most prosperous cities in the Jiangnan area, the most famous of which was Luanzhou City in front of them. Luanzhou City was also known as Peach Blossom City. When they came here, there were no peach blossoms at this time of year, but there were a few stalls selling peaches on the side of the road. The city¡¯s commercial practice was different from that of the capital that delineated the location of shops. Here, business could be done everywhere, and there was no limit to the business hours of shops. The crowd was loud, and the lights were brightly lit at night. Looking from the window on the second floor of the place where they stayed, the light of a string of lanterns reflecting in the water of the Ming River could be seen. This beautiful land was like a dream. Du Yin stayed in the guesthouse for the time being. The officials of Luanzhou City treated him respectfully but not very enthusiastically. There were many wealthy merchants in this part of Jiangnan. The network of officials was complicated, and it was far from the capital. It was actually not easy to take over. Fu Zhiyu had his two uncles, which doubled the result with half the effort. Even if he didn¡¯t want to take over, his situation wouldn¡¯t be too bad. If he wanted to take over¡­ Du Yin knew that Fu Zhiyu had pretended to be stupid on purpose before, but now that Emperor Qingyuan was dead, he didn¡¯t know what Fu Zhiyu would choose. The next day, Du Yin met Fu Zhiyu. Fu Zhiyu came with Yuan Jiangxing, and the place where the decree was announced was at the government office of Luanzhou City. After all, his power had to be known not only to Fu Zhiyu himself, but also to others, who were in charge of this place now. When the decree was announced, everyone had to kneel down and accept the decree according to the law, except for Fu Zhiyu. ¡°His Majesty¡¯s decree, His Highness Wang Zhao doesn¡¯t need to kneel,¡± Du Yin said. Compared to giving away Jiangnan, this was nothing special. Fu Zhiyu had been silent all the time, listening to the decree, a little absent-minded. Yuan Jiangxing had already sent him a letter before he set off for Jiangnan and only set off after receiving an affirmative answer from Fu Zhiyu. The imperial seal had been stamped on the decree, and it had actually taken effect. The announcement of the decree was only a ceremony. Moreover, everyone in the capital knew that he wasn¡¯t dead, just in Jiangnan. After this change of circumstances hiding himself was like covering his ears while stealing a bell. This Jiangnan¡­ Advertisements This incident was really beyond Fu Zhiyu¡¯s expectation. He listened absent-mindedly, and then took the decree from Du Yin absent-mindedly, and then heard Du Yin ask in a low voice, ¡°Can I talk to Wang Zhao?¡± Du Yin paused for a while, then added: ¡°Alone.¡± Fu Zhiyu thought a little and nodded. ¡°General Du, come with me.¡± Du Yin followed to the place where Fu Zhiyu now lived. It was a very exquisite small courtyard. It seemed that it had been carefully taken care of for a long time. It was not as luxurious as the palace, but it was very comfortable. Fu Zhiyu asked Du Yin to sit down in the pavilion in the garden. The light wind carried the fragrance of some flowers that made one calm down unconsciously. Du Yin looked at Fu Zhiyu, only to feel that there seemed to be no change in this person. He still looked a little lazy and laidback. After sitting down, he didn¡¯t speak immediately. He slowly poured himself a cup of tea, took a few sips, and then said, ¡°What does General Du want to say to me?¡± ¡°Xie Ke¡­ originally planned to tell you this by himself,¡± Du Yin said, ¡°But His Highness Wang Zhao gave him an arrow, and he hasn¡¯t woken up yet, so I had to come.¡± Fu Zhiyu smiled; he heard the resentment in Du Yin¡¯s words. From Du Yin¡¯s point of view, what Xie Ke did seemed to be as if he was bewitched by him, and it could only be described as ¡°imcomprehensible¡±. Everyone¡¯s perspective was different, and sometimes it was hard to tell who was right and who was wrong. ¡°He is still the same, he always has to stuff people with something he thinks is good,¡± Fu Zhiyu sighed. ¡°General Du really doesn¡¯t need to look at me like this. I have never asked him for Jiangnan, and¡­ I don¡¯t owe him anything.¡± ¡°He knew you liked it, so he gave it to you,¡± Du Yin said. ¡°I think about it now, I just feel terrible. Sometimes I even feel that he planned all this just for you.¡± It was always Xie Ke who delivered, in love and willingness, and Du Yin knew in his heart that this was not a debt. ¡°But why?¡± He couldn¡¯t hold back and asked, ¡°Xie Ke loves you. I don¡¯t think there is anything wrong with it. I don¡¯t care if he wants to treat someone well, but why do you treat him like this? It would be nice if you just didn¡¯t accept it. Sometimes, you are¡­ too cruel.¡± Du Yin wanted to see a little trace of regret in Fu Zhiyu¡¯s expression, but there was none. He was very calm, his expression was extremely serene, as if there was no way to move him at all. Fu Zhiyu never planned to explain this matter to Du Yin; he couldn¡¯t understand it anyway. Du Yin suppressed his emotions, remembering that he hadn¡¯t finished speaking. ¡°Before he lost consciousness, he was talking about you,¡± Du Yin told him what Xie Ke said. ¡°I really don¡¯t know why you hate him so much. Maybe Xie Ke really did something wrong to you, but¡­ treat him a little better, can¡¯t you? Just be nice to him and he will be happy.¡± ¡°General Du, you really put the cart before the horse by saying this to me who tried to kill him,¡± Fu Zhiyu shook his head and said, ¡°Why should his emotions depend on me? If he learned to let me go, he wouldn¡¯t have to suffer the tortures you described, would he?¡± CH 67 Fu Zhiyu and Du Yin really didn¡¯t have a common ground. Not only was it a matter of different perspectives, but the information the two people had was also very different, and they wouldn¡¯t clear it up even if they talked for three days and three nights. ¡°I don¡¯t remember how many times I told him,¡± Fu Zhiyu said, a little helpless, ¡°If Xie Ke can learn to let me go, each of us will naturally be happy. No one has to hurt anyone, right?¡± Du Yin didn¡¯t go on; he sighed and said, ¡°I hope so.¡± But he knew in his heart that it was impossible. With Xie Ke being like that, although he might not guard Fu Zhiyu like before, he still wouldn¡¯t give up and would just choose a different way. The decree had been announced, and Du Yin had no reason to stay, so he quickly left and returned to the capital. Before leaving, he stared at Fu Zhiyu deeply for a long time, but didn¡¯t say anything. Fu Zhiyu also turned around and went back, as if nothing had happened. After receiving the decree, he lived his life as before, with his mother, Yuan Mingdao and the animals from his former residence. Jiangnan was under the jurisdiction of various officials, and with Yuan Jiangxing leading the troops, he was able to leave everything alone, not worrying about anything. However, Jiangnan was indeed a very comfortable place to live, better than Fu Zhiyu had imagined before, so leisurely that one would forget the passage of time. It wasn¡¯t until his mother gave him a gift that Fu Zhiyu suddenly realised that more than three years had passed. ¡°I sewed you a new winter coat, try it on?¡± Yuan Wanyun had been away from the palace for a long time, and she looked much younger. When she walked out, others looked at her and thought she was a woman in her early thirties. She had the kind of mature charm that others didn¡¯t have. Her temperament was much better than that of ordinary young women, making her unforgettable. She looked at Fu Zhiyu intently, and when she saw that he had changed into his new winter clothes, she reached out to fix his hair. His mother¡¯s craftsmanship was naturally skillful. Fu Zhiyu looked in the mirror, praised it a few times, and then was silent for a while. Twenty-two years old¡­ Fu Zhiyu¡¯s birthday was unsurprisingly celebrated enthusiastically by the whole family. Mingdao was fifteen years old this year, maybe sixteen. He didn¡¯t know which day he was born, but at this age, the stature of a young man was gradually showing up. He had grown a lot taller, growing wildly in the past few years. Fu Zhiyu used to be able to touch his head casually, but now he couldn¡¯t. Mingdao was almost as tall as Fu Zhiyu. He hadn¡¯t grown up so fast in their previous life¡­ Fu Zhiyu muttered. Could it be his blood? The physical fitness of the family had indeed improved because of it, after all, they had been eating it for several years. Advertisements Since Fu Zhiyu became the King of Jiangnan, there was no need to sell things to the outside world. He originally didn¡¯t sell much and the price was sky-high. When he sold it, he never promised that it would always be provided. The reason given for stopping now was also very simple. It was just said that there were no raw materials. Even if the other party had some opinions, there was nothing they could do. If it was no, it meant no. The birthday dinner in the evening was also lively. Yuan Mingdao came back from hunting a deer. After eating dinner, the whole family sat down in the garden, set up a stove, and grilled venison on it. The fresh venison was delicious with just a little salt, and it was roasted on the fire, so even in winter, it was not very cold. Rongrong was also wrapped in a small red dress, and he lowered his head to chew on the boiled bone intently. Ah Tang still looked lazy, hiding under the stool and falling asleep. The rabbits were raised in the backyard. The change of the place didn¡¯t make them feel anything, they were still the same. Steward Zhou was also here; he had come a little later. When Fu Zhiyu was in the capital, he didn¡¯t include Steward Zhou into the group of people he really trusted, and many things were hidden from him. But after Fu Zhiyu was crowned King of Jiangnan, Fu Yanran sent him over. Steward Zhou was really a very good steward, and Fu Zhiyu was gradually getting used to having him in his life. He was very obedient, and Fu Zhiyu couldn¡¯t find a single fault. Steward Zhou himself cherished it very much. He had been serving people all his life. Fu Zhiyu was the best master he had ever met. Basically, he had no requirements and was generous. Jiangnan was also a good place. He was also getting older, and he really hoped to find a place to retire, so that he could live his life safely. Dr. Chen was also here, but he was not an imperial doctor anymore. He opened a medical centre in Luanzhou, accepted a few apprentices, and often carried a medical box to visit the poor and administer medicine. He wasn¡¯t in the palace anymore. He was prosperous and rich, but now the outside world praised him for being the reincarnation of Hua Tuo and said that he was a peerless benefactor; unlike before, when he was always carrying the risk of getting punished. Yuan Xi was married to one of Yuan Jiangxing¡¯s people. The two grew up together. Fu Zhiyu had also seen the man in his previous life. He was a good and loyal person. He wasn¡¯t there when the Yuan family was slaughtered by the Crown Prince in the previous life. He guarded the frontier wholeheartedly. After receiving the news, he had changed completely, becoming silent and gloomy. Later, he followed Fu Zhiyu for some time. After killing the Crown Prince to avenge the Yuan family, he refused an official position and left soon. Fu Zhiyu never heard from him again. Now he and Yuan Xi were happily married. Fu Zhiyu¡¯s impression of him being gloomy in the previous life was swept away. He was a honest man, stupidly infatuated with his wife. Now he was seriously roasting venison for Yuan Xi. While roasting, he carefully admonished: ¡°The venison is dry, you can¡¯t eat too much of it.¡± Although that was what he said, he couldn¡¯t stop Yuan Xi from eating it. He could only obediently roast meat for his wife and hand her fruit to try to reduce the fire element of the food. Yuan Lu had actually grown a little taller. He was about the same age as Mingdao. After coming to Jiangnan, the two got along well and naturally became best friends. But unlike Yuan Mingdao¡¯s growing spurts, Yuan Lu belonged to the kind of slow growers. Now he still looked like a child, and his face still retained some baby fat. Fu Zhiyu knew that he wasn¡¯t as simple as seemed on the surface. He had followed Yuan Jiangwen with the caravans since he was three years old and a lot of his ways were very subtle. Yuan Lu had recently been drumming up his own business and was trying to rope Mingdao into it. Fu Zhiyu was extremely supportive. He only felt happy when he saw these things. It was true that everyone was starting all over again. They all had a different life from the previous life, and everyone was happy. As for himself¡­ He had a new winter coat to wear. Fu Zhiyu touched the winter coat that was warmed by the fire, lowered his head and smiled. He occasionally thought of other people in these three years, but this thought was fleeting. The things in the past were too complicated, like a ball of wool that couldn¡¯t be untangled. He didn¡¯t plan to untangle it either, just letting it go after getting to know everything. Even if he sometimes accidentally thought about someone, he would just laugh it off, turn around and forget about it. After the birthday party, Fu Zhiyu sent everyone out and looked at the pile of gifts. Advertisements He was so happy today that he didn¡¯t fall asleep when he went to bed at night, so he sat on the bed and opened the gifts, each of them surprising him. Yuan Mingdao saw that the lights in his bedroom were still on and asked the kitchen to cook a bowl of sweet milk soup and send it over to relieve the greasy feeling of grilled venison, so that he could sleep well after drinking it. Fu Zhiyu just opened the gift from Yuan Mingdao. It was a jade hairpin, a specially rare green imperial jade; even in the imperial family, such a thing was a rarity. Fu Zhiyu tied his hair casually, and the turquoise hairpin was stuck in his dark hair, like a swirl of water melting into it, full of understated elegance. Yuan Mingdao smiled and said, ¡°Master looks great wearing this.¡± It wasn¡¯t in vain that he had put so much thought into it. There was no need for Fu Zhiyu to take the initiative to ask him where it came from. Yuan Mingdao was quite willing to talk to him about it. ¡°Yuan Lu and I went to Southern Xinjiang some time ago to do business,¡± he said. ¡°They actually reject outsiders there. Although Yuan Lu¡¯s father¡¯s caravan had been there a few times, it was only after he accidentally saved a few people from Southern Xinjiang and it happened that those people had some reputation there that they agreed to deal with us and have some business. Yuan Lu wanted to make a big deal this time, but many things over there were uncertain, so he asked me to go with him.¡± An important part of the merchant caravan actually came from physical protection, and Yuan Mingdao¡¯s current strength was second to none in Yuan Jiangwen¡¯s merchant caravans. Choosing him to cooperate was not only the result of Yuan Lu¡¯s friendly feelings; from the perspective of interests, Mingdao was also the best. ¡°Make a big deal?¡± Fu Zhiyu stretched out his hand and took off the jade hairpin; his hair fell loose, ¡°Jade?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± Yuan Mingdao nodded, ¡°Southern Xinjiang produces fine jade, but the jade mines over there are rarely mined by outsiders. We have not crossed this hurdle for the time being, but we have reached a cooperation. We can buy and sell a large amount of raw jade from there.¡± Gold had a price and jade was priceless. If this business was really done well, the future was indeed limitless. ¡°If Mingdao has any needs, tell me,¡± Fu Zhiyu said to him, ¡°I will do whatever I can.¡± Yuan Mingdao smiled and said, ¡°Master doesn¡¯t have to worry so much, I will do it well. From now on, I will earn money to support Master.¡± When children get older, they always have their own ideas. Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t argue with him at that time, but just smiled, lowered his head and finished the sweet milk soup. The next morning, Yuan Mingdao went out again early in the morning, and Yuan Jiangxing came to see Fu Zhiyu. Jiangnan already had its own fairly complete administrative structure. Not a single official of any rank was removed by Fu Zhiyu. He left them alone and kept everything as it was. Nothing happened in the past three years. If there was really anything that needed to be decided by him as the king, and Yuan Jiangxing felt he could not make the decision, he would come to Fu Zhiyu. ¡°These major merchants have handed you letters again, are you still not going?¡± Fu Zhiyu looked down at the gilded invitation in his hand and shook his head. In this part of Jiangnan, there were many wealthy merchants, and the four major merchants were Yuan, Lin, Deng and Qian. Yuan was naturally Yuan Jiangwen. As for the remaining three, Fu Zhiyu had only met them a few times and had no impression of them. He didn¡¯t intend to talk to them much. But just because he didn¡¯t want to talk didn¡¯t mean that others didn¡¯t want to. Although he didn¡¯t care about anything, the entire Jiangnan was nominally Fu Zhiyu¡¯s place. It was impossible for the rich businessmen who lived here not to think about dealing with him. These wealthy businessmen had always had a very high status in this area of Jiangnan. The emperor was far away, and they couldn¡¯t be controlled from the capital. The officials in Jiangnan were like brothers to them but now there was one more person above them, Fu Zhiyu, and it was quite a different scenery. At first, everyone wanted to find out what he was up to, and invitations came flying in like snow. But Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t care, and after a while, they stopped. But that didn¡¯t mean they stopped forever; you see, wasn¡¯t this another invitation? CH 68 ¡°The outside world even thinks you¡¯re stupid, that¡¯s why you don¡¯t do anything, for fear that you¡¯ll go crazy if you overdo it,¡± Yuan Jiangxing couldn¡¯t help but advise him,, ¡°Zhiyu, when you were in the capital, you didn¡¯t fight for the power. I agreed with it very much. That position is not easy to sit in. Sometimes it is like a cage. But now it is just Jiangnan, and things are different, so you don¡¯t have to hold back anymore. Zhiyu, you are a capable person. It¡¯s not that I don¡¯t want you to rest, but¡­ I just think it¡¯s a pity.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think it¡¯s a pity,¡± Fu Zhiyu lowered his head and smiled. ¡°Uncle doesn¡¯t have to persuade me. Let¡¯s leave it like this, I think it¡¯s fine.¡± All Fu Zhiyu felt was that he was in the most comfortable position he could be in, not wanting to move at all. Everything went as he wished, the people he hated didn¡¯t appear, and the family members he missed were all by his side, and everyone was very good. He felt that he really had no reason to change this kind of life. Jiangnan itself was also very good now, and there was no need for him to intervene. As for the invitation, he tossed it aside and ignored it. Yuan Jiangxing sighed when he heard him say this. Knowing what he meant, he stopped advising him, took the invitation and left. After about a month, the shop started by Yuan Lu and Mingdao opened. It was a jade shop named ¡°Bright Moon Pavillion¡±. Fu Zhiyu was invited by the two youngsters to visit it several times. On the first day, he didn¡¯t go to join in the crowd. He just sent gifts and went the next day. ¡°Cousin, come and see which one you like,¡± Yuan Lu grinned; at first glance he didn¡¯t look like the owner of the shop. ¡°Take anything you like, I mean anything.¡± ¡°No need, didn¡¯t Mingdao give me something?¡± Fu Zhiyu said, ¡°I still have it on my head.¡± ¡°That¡¯s the jade craftsman I found,¡± Yuan Lu glanced at his head and said with emotion, ¡°Sure enough, it looks best when worn by Cousin. It¡¯s a blessing for this jade to be worn on Cousin¡¯s head.¡± Fu Zhiyu lowered his head and smiled, not saying anything. Yuan Mingdao went out temporarily; there was a batch of new goods escorted from outside the city. He was going to keep an eye on it, so Fu Zhiyu sat in the shop and waited for a while. The shop Yuan Lu had chosen was very large, with three floors and cubicles. Fu Zhiyu sat in the cubicle on the first floor and drank tea. Yuan Lu was also busy, chatting with Fu Zhiyu now and then. Before he finished speaking, he was pulled away to do business again. The jade from Southern Xinjiang was indeed first-class, and people never stopped coming into the shop. There were some books in the cubicle, and Fu Zhiyu wasn¡¯t bored. He took a look at them casually. They were probably brought from Southern Xinjiang by the way. Some were story books, and some were travel notes that recorded the customs and traditions of Southern Xinjiang. It was fresh; anyway, he was idle now and there was nothing to do, so he took a book casually, drinking tea and eating snacks while turning the pages. Before he finished reading the introduction of the book, he heard a noise outside. Yuan Lu wasn¡¯t nice to the outsiders this time. Fu Zhiyu heard his cold, bland voice: ¡°Deng Jinghe, get out of here, my shop will not do business with you.¡± Fu Zhiyu was taken aback, put down the tea in his hand, and glanced out. Advertisements Yuan Lu being angry was one thing; it was the name ¡°Deng Jinghe¡± that attracted Fu Zhiyu¡¯s attention for a moment. Among the four giants of Jiangnan, Yuan, Lin, Deng and Qian, no one could tell the clear ranking. It was the truth that everyone kept their wealth confidential. Besides, there was so much business that even the owner couldn¡¯t tell exactly how much money he had, let alone compare it with others. Deng Jinghe was that ¡°Deng¡±, and he was regarded as a competitor of the Yuan family. Not only that, Deng Jinghe was a very important figure in the middle and late stages in the original work, and he left a deep impression on Fu Zhiyu. In the previous life, the Yuan family was slaughtered in the capital, and Yuan Jiangwen¡¯s original business was greatly affected. Although there were shopkeepers in all stores, there was no leader in the group. What¡¯s more, the incident happened suddenly and everyone was unprepared. It was only natural that the Yuan family¡¯s business was taken advantage of in the chaos and swallowed up. Fu Zhiyu was already unable to protect himself at that time, and he had no time to take care of Jiangnan, which was thousands of miles away. He had to read the original work before he knew everything that happened later. The Deng family annexed most of the businesses left by Yuan Jiangwen. After the integration, they became the richest businessmen in Jiangnan. At that time, the head of the Deng family was Deng Jinghe, who was young and looked about the same age as Fu Zhiyu. In the middle and late stages of the original work, Deng Jinghe cooperated with Xie Ke to take over the isolated place of Southern Xinjiang without bloodshed through trade. Xie Ke¡¯s unification of the continent was successful, and Deng Jinghe became the first-rank imperial merchant. Except for the emperor, he was probably the richest person in the world. In his previous life, Fu Zhiyu¡¯s and his timeline were far apart, and the two had never seen each other. Now that he heard the name, memories of the original work poured in all at once, leaving Fu Zhiyu in a sudden daze. He had been living comfortably for so long that at times he almost forgot that there was such a thing as the original novel. Deng Jinghe¡¯s life was very dramatic. His mother was a prostitute who had an affair with Master Deng. After an accidental pregnancy, his mother carried him into the Deng family and became a concubine. But Master Deng had a rich romantic life. He had more people in his backyard than the emperor¡¯s harem, and there were countless mistresses outside. Deng Jinghe¡¯s mother was jealous, short-sighted, and a little stupid. She used several tricks to win favour but was caught, causing unrest in the family home. She was still confined when she went into early labour and gave birth in the woodshed. She didn¡¯t survive that night and died the next day. Although there were many women in the Deng family, there were indeed not many descendants. Only one son and one daughter had been born to the main wife, and there was no one from the concubines. The patriarch of the Deng family was ruthless, preparing medicine for the other party every time and watching until they drank it. Deng Jinghe was really a pure accident. After all, the brothel was not his own home. Master Deng drank too much and forgot about it. The next morning, he hurriedly ran to deal with business matters. He didn¡¯t expect to be hit in one go. He wanted to get rid of the baby before it was born, but the old lady of the Deng family believed in Buddhism, and she had begged for a sign at the beginning of the year that said it wasn¡¯t advisable to see blood this year, but to be kind and benevolent, otherwise it would be detrimental to the Deng family¡¯s luck. So, it was not advisable to kill the baby. Deng Jinghe¡¯s mother also relied on her belly to dare to act. She touched the bottom line of the family rules several times in a row. If it was someone else, they would¡¯ve probably been beaten to death. But her ultimate punishment was just to be locked in the woodshed and reflect for a few days. After all, no one knew at that time that she would go into labour early. After Deng Jinghe was born, he was raised in the old lady¡¯s courtyard until he could speak, and then he was sent to a remote house. The old lady saved his life but didn¡¯t like him at all. The only good feeling she had was that Deng Jinghe¡¯s mother happened to die the day after New Year¡¯s Eve and didn¡¯t stain her sign. Deng Jinghe had a very poor life when he was young. As the son of a major merchant in Jiangnan, he almost starved to death several times before he gained a little bit of power. Advertisements When Fu Zhiyu read the original work, he couldn¡¯t help but compare Deng Jinghe with the people around him. He felt that he was a bit like Fu Lingxiao and a bit like King Xidan. He had the inconsistency of Fu Lingxiao¡¯s appearance, and he had King Xidan¡¯s crazy energy of not caring about anything. The book described Deng Jinghe as having a face like jade and an unpredictable mind. If Fu Lingxiao was like a snake, King Xidan was like a wolf, Deng Jinghe was like¡­ a fox? Fu Zhiyu listened to the noise outside getting louder and louder, and becoming more intense. Thinking about it, he couldn¡¯t help but lift the curtain and take a look out. ¡°¡­look at you.¡± When Deng Jinghe faced the irate Yuan Lu, his expression didn¡¯t change at all. He shook his head and sighed, ¡°Not doing business with whom, ah? I really like that jade ruyi. It is a rare good thing. It just happens to be the old lady¡¯s birthday soon. I promised my grandmother that I would give her a beautiful thing. Yuan Lu, we are considered friends, so just sell it to me. I will never bargain, okay?¡± Yuan Lu had always been kind to others. When he first met Deng Jinghe, he really stupidly felt that the other party was pitiful. He was a good person with a bad background who was constantly improving himself. Yuan Lu planned to make friends, but when he turned around, he was screwed by Deng Jinghe, and a business line slipped out of his hands. Yuan Jiangwen didn¡¯t think it was a big problem; it was a normal way to do business. If Yuan Lu could learn something, learn to know people and be more careful, it was not a loss. Yuan Lu had grown up, but he would never forget that failure for the rest of his life, so much so that he vowed to be at odds with Deng Jinghe. This time, the line of the Southern Xinjiang jade was won by him over Deng Jinghe, which could be considered a tooth for a tooth and also caused him to gloat a bit. But Yuan Lu knew that the person in front of him had no bottom line. It was probably because of the regrets of his youth that Deng Jinghe had an overly unreasonable obsession with money, so that he did whatever it took and didn¡¯t believe in feelings at all. Their paths were different, and Yuan Lu didn¡¯t want to have any further exchanges with him. Deng Jinghe watched the people in the shop surround him, so he took a step back, but still didn¡¯t leave. He was about to say something, but he happened to see a person coming out of the small room on the side. Someone he had never seen before. Fu Zhiyu was dressed simply today. He was wearing a plain white robe with no decorations. His long hair was pulled back and held by a jade hairpin given by Yuan Mingdao. The wind blew through the hall, blowing up a few strands of hair that fell lazily on his cheeks. Fu Zhiyu was just a little curious about Deng Jinghe, and he also heard Yuan Lu¡¯s angry voice. He felt that it wasn¡¯t good for him to sit and listen, so he simply came out. But after he came out, the noise stopped all of a sudden. Yuan Wanyun always praised him for growing more and more good-looking. Fortunately, he didn¡¯t like to go out; otherwise, who knows how many girls would pin their hopes on him. Fu Zhiyu always thought that it was just his mother¡¯s love filter. He was used to seeing his own face. It was beautiful, but he didn¡¯t think it was very amazing, let alone to the extent described by his mother. But Yuan Wanyun was really not exaggerating. She didn¡¯t know what her son had eaten but just like the blood in his body, there was always something inexplicable about him that attracted people, and sometimes it even worried her. Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t care about the affairs of the backyard and usually hardly needed anyone to serve him. He didn¡¯t know that the servants in his mansion had been replaced by Steward Zhou a few times. There were always some bold people who coveted their master. Fortunately, they were all stopped in time. Some were out of luck, but there was an endless stream of them that couldn¡¯t be controlled. The latest batch looked very honest, but they didn¡¯t last long. One after another, they caused problems, and the maids who wanted to get into the master¡¯s bed were dealt with by Steward Zhou. There were many beauties in the backyard of the Deng family. Deng Jinghe had travelled south and north over the years and had seen countless good-looking people, but he had never seen anyone like this. He only felt that after taking a look, he forgot what he had just said. CH 69 The clothes the man was wearing were simple, but they emphasised how unparalleled his appearance was. The little bit of imperial green jade in his hair was the finishing touch. His beauty was like a dream, making people want to reach out and touch him, so that they could confirm that the person in front of them was real. Deng Jinghe thought this and did this, as if he was bewitched. Yuan Lu watched Deng Jinghe suddenly stop talking. His eyes only looked in one direction, and that direction was his cousin who Yuan Lu had always liked, so he became even more angry. ¡°What are you thinking about! Don¡¯t look!¡± Yuan Lu¡¯s face turned cold, ¡°Kick him out for me, if you can¡¯t get him out, you have to beat him up! I¡¯ll take responsibility if he¡¯s injured or killed!¡± The martial artist hired by the shop knew Deng Jinghe. He was afraid that the two families would cause too much trouble, so he kept holding back and just stopped Deng Jinghe for a while. Now that the master gave a direct order, there was nothing he could do. Deng Jinghe practised martial arts. He had good skills and was flexible. Not only did he dodge, but he was one step closer to Fu Zhiyu. He was such a character; he would do whatever it took to get what he wanted, even if it meant stealing it. He didn¡¯t take Yuan Lu¡¯s warning seriously at all. But Fu Zhiyu was much more flexible than he thought. He dodged in a flash as Deng Jinghe rushed up to him, and with a lurch in his step, Deng Jinghe lost his balance a little. At this moment, Yuan Mingdao just came back with a bag of snacks for his master in his arms. When he happened to see this scene, his face suddenly became ugly. In an instant, he drew the scimitar from his waist and slashed at Deng Jinghe. Deng Jinghe was stopped before he even touched the corner of Fu Zhiyu¡¯s clothes. Yuan Mingdao¡¯s movements were much faster than those of the martial artist in the shop. Deng Jinghe couldn¡¯t dodge, and his shoulder was slashed by the blade of the scimitar. Although the wound was not deep, it was bleeding. After a few moves, Deng Jinghe was forced out of the shop by Yuan Mingdao. Mingdao knew this man, and he had a sense of proportion, so he didn¡¯t rush to kill him to avoid the disaster. Besides, the shop had just opened, and it would probably be difficult to do business in the future if something big happened. ¡°Hurry up!¡± Now that Yuan Lu got the helper, he became more emboldened. Seeing that Deng Jinghe was still staring at Fu Zhiyu, he stepped forward and blocked his gaze, ¡°You mangy dog, toad who wants to eat swan meat!¡± Deng Jinghe knew Yuan Mingdao. He really didn¡¯t make any preparations today, and he didn¡¯t bring many people. After weighing things for a short while, he knew he wouldn¡¯t be able to win any favours today. But he was still reluctant to leave and stopped by the door, staring at the hem of the man¡¯s clothes and hearing Yuan Mingdao ask in a low voice, ¡°Master, are you okay?¡± ¡°It¡¯s nothing,¡± Fu Zhiyu shook his head, ¡°I just came out to have a look.¡± Deng Jinghe¡¯s actions did seem a bit strange to him, but Fu Zhiyu more or less felt that Mingdao and the others were overreacting. The master of Yuan Mingdao? Deng Jinghe was taken aback when he heard this name, and then he reacted. ¡°Are you Wang Zhao?¡± He said in surprise, ¡°Wang Zhao Fu Zhiyu?¡± Advertisements It was true that Fu Zhiyu seldom went out, and he shrugged off all the invitations from several big families. Deng Jinghe had been away on business for a long time and had only recently returned, so it was unsurprising that he had not really seen Fu Zhiyu even once in the past few years. Before Fu Zhiyu could answer, Deng Jinghe seemed to understand. With a weird smile on his face, he said, ¡°Wang Zhao, we are destined to meet again.¡± ¡°Who is destined to meet him, a shameless villain?¡± Yuan Lu looked at Deng Jinghe¡¯s departing back and sneered, ¡°I¡¯ll beat him up once I see him in the future.¡± ¡°Then you should start taking your martial arts training seriously now.¡± Yuan Mingdou reminded him straightforwardly, ¡°Otherwise you really can¡¯t beat him up yet.¡± Yuan Mingdao dropped some of the snacks that he bought for Fu Zhiyu, but most of them were intact. He was a little embarrassed, but Fu Zhiyu naturally took them from him and asked, ¡°Are you going home?¡± ¡°Well, the new goods have been delivered to the back yard, I have nothing more to do,¡± Yuan Mingdao said, ¡°I will accompany Master for a stroll?¡± Fu Zhiyu shook his head and said, ¡°No more shopping, let¡¯s go back and eat. Today, the kitchen made good dishes.¡± ¡°Good.¡± Originally, Fu Zhiyu was going to go out for a stroll, but he wasn¡¯t in a good mood anymore. Deng Jinghe made him unhappy. What he did in his previous life couldn¡¯t be said to be wrong. After all, he didn¡¯t start what happened to the Yuan family. If the things left by the Yuan family were not taken away by him, they would also be taken away by others. But now that the Yuan family was safe, the tit-for-tat fate couldn¡¯t be avoided. Doing business was always like this. Although people talked about harmony breeding wealth, the ways to make money were always limited and competition was inevitable. It was not that Fu Zhiyu doubted the abilities of Yuan Jiangwen and Yuan Lu, but this incident reminded him of the original story. If his own affairs were over, it didn¡¯t mean that the river of destiny had stopped there. The plot would continue in the future, and there was no way to do it once and for all. Realising this made Fu Zhiyu a little irritable. Yuan Mingdao saw that he was in a bad mood, and after getting into the carriage, he didn¡¯t talk much, keeping quiet and leaving Fu Zhiyu alone for a while. A few days after returning to the mansion, Fu Zhiyu tasted all the snacks that Yuan Mingdao brought him. Some were from Southern Xinjiang, and some were bought by Yuan Mingdao on the side of the road. There were all kinds of them. Not all of them were delicious. After all, they were the things made outside, not as exquisite as the ones made in the mansion, but a few were good. Fu Zhiyu liked the osmanthus candy the most. It was wrapped in greaseproof paper. It was small and sweet but not greasy. It was a bit different from the osmanthus candy that was often eaten in Jiangnan. He specially picked it out and ate it all. Yuan Mingdao was a little happy and a little regretful when he saw that Fu Zhiyu liked it. He said, ¡°It seemed to have been bought in Southern Xinjiang, or maybe it was in some shop in Jiangnan? I bought too many kinds, and I don¡¯t remember. It was made in a simple way, so I probably bought it casually. I will take a look next time and bring some more to Master.¡± With the last piece of candy in his mouth, Fu Zhiyu answered vaguely and nodded. Advertisements He was not a greedy person either. Although he liked it very much, there was no reason to bother Yuan Mingdao in particular. He repeatedly told Mingdao not to run around because of this little candy and forget it if he couldn¡¯t find it. As a result, not long after Yuan Mingdao left, Fu Zhiyu saw the osmanthus candy on the dining table in the mansion. It was served as an after-dinner snack. At first, Fu Zhiyu hadn¡¯t recognised it. The candy was cut into regular squares and the colour was much brighter. He thought it was Steward Zhou who saw that he liked it and ordered the kitchen to make it, but the taste was indeed exactly the same as the one he had eaten before. Was the cook in the mansion so magical? ¡°I bought it outside,¡± Steward Zhou explained. ¡°In the newly opened shop. I saw a lot of people queuing, and I thought that Master liked it recently, so I tried to buy a little bit. Does Master like it?¡± Both Fu Zhiyu and Yuan Wanyun liked it very much, but after all, this thing was too sweet to eat a lot of it. It was okay to taste it occasionally. How could there be such a coincidence? Fu Zhiyu puffed his cheeks and bit the candy, thinking as he ate. The shop was really newly opened. In addition to osmanthus candy, there were other snacks in the shop. Steward Zhou saw that Fu Zhiyu liked them and bought some others. Let¡¯s not talk about osmanthus candy. The rest of the snacks were very similar to the bag of things Yuan Mingdao brought to Fu Zhiyu, but because the appearance had become more refined, they looked a little different. However, the taste was exactly the same. Steward Zhou also knew that something was wrong. He went to inquire about it on purpose, and came back to explain: ¡°That shop is said to be from Southern Xinjiang and the taste is from Southern Xinjiang. It is special for us, but it is an ordinary taste on their side.¡± Am I being paranoid, Fu Zhiyu thought. Yuan Mingdao came back this time, and sure enough, he brought a large bag of candies as promised, but when he saw what was on the table, his face couldn¡¯t help but look surprised. ¡°I also specifically inquired with the vendor. These candies are unique to the countryside in Southern Xinjiang. Quite a few people can make them,¡± Yuan Mingdao said. ¡°It was just that people in Southern Xinjiang are rarely willing to leave their hometowns, otherwise I could bring a cook back to Master.¡± ¡°There¡¯s no need to make it so big, it is just a snack,¡± Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t know whether to laugh or to cry; he relaxed a little bit after hearing this, ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry about it in the future, it is sold at the door.¡± As for Deng Jinghe, Fu Zhiyu hadn¡¯t seen him again since that time. Steward Zhou said that he handed over an invitation, but according to Fu Zhiyu¡¯s usual style, the letter had never reached his hands. Steward Zhou directly suppressed it. When Yuan Lu came over to chat afterwards, he gloated again, saying that Deng Jinghe had fallen into a big trouble with his caravan and that the business he was negotiating had somehow slipped away, making Deng Jinghe lose an unknown amount of money. ¡°But, Cousin, there is a big event in Jiangnan soon, and you may not be able to avoid this matter.¡± ¡°I know,¡± Fu Zhiyu waved his hand and said, ¡°On the second day of the second month, the dragon raises his head and there is going to be a temple fair in Jiangnan. It is not the first year for me here. I¡¯ve experienced it before.¡± ¡°This year is different,¡± Yuan Lu said. ¡°This year is a rare and auspicious year. As the King of Jiangnan, Cousin will definitely have to attend the sacrifice. The sacrifice is to bless Jiangnan with good weather and rain. Everyone is very concerned. If Cousin doesn¡¯t go and doesn¡¯t pay attention to it, the people will be unhappy if they see it.¡± Hearing what he said, Fu Zhiyu became serious. In the previous years, the temple fair didn¡¯t engage in sacrifice and Yuan Jiangxing attended on his behalf. It would be fine to put a stick of incense at Baima Temple outside Luanzhou City, there was nothing wrong with it. ¡°In the past, this kind of great sacrifice was done by the governor of Jiangnan. Now that Cousin is the King of Jiangnan, I am afraid that this matter will be unavoidable,¡± Yuan Lu explained. ¡°In fact, there is no need to prepare anything. Most things are left to the abbot of Baima Temple to do. As long as Cousin goes up in the middle of the day and offers a total of three sticks of incense, it will be fine.¡± ¡­It sounded very simple. Although Fu Zhiyu had always declined things whenever he could, this matter was very important to the entire Jiangnan, and people valued it very much. This kind of auspicious year was rare. If he avoided it, it would be a bit too much. The governor of Luanzhou also came over to tell him about the process, and demonstrated it on the spot. ¡°It is very simple,¡± he said, ¡°Your Highness Wang Zhao, don¡¯t worry.¡± The governor of Luanzhou was a simple and honest man, and his manner of speech sounded trustworthy. ¡°Okay,¡± Fu Zhiyu nodded, agreeing, ¡°I see, I will prepare carefully.¡± ¡°Then it can¡¯t be better,¡± the governor showed a happy smile that made him look like Maitreya Buddha, ¡°Wang Zhao¡¯s willingness to attend is a blessing for the whole of Jiangnan.¡± After speaking about the matter, he got up and excused himself. But this very kind-looking governor of Luanzhou, after turning around and putting away the smile on his face, had a bit of an indescribable gloomy feeling about him. CH 70 The process of the sacrifice that Fu Zhiyu was in charge of was indeed not difficult. Just like Yuan Lu said, it was just about three sticks of incense, but the clothes for the sacrifice were really difficult to wear. The outfit was very complicated. The last time this dress was used was six years ago. The last governor of Jiangnan was much fatter than Fu Zhiyu, so the outfit was adjusted by the embroiderer with great care, but as a result, it turned out to be even more complicated, with layer after layer of cloth. The crown was also heavy, as if made to break a person¡¯s neck. It took Fu Zhiyu a long time to put on these many things. Although there were many layers of ritual clothes, because most of them were made of silk and satin, he didn¡¯t feel cumbersome after putting them on. Once the belt was wrapped, his waist looked even thinner. ¡°¡­strangled me to death,¡± Fu Zhiyu took a breath, and couldn¡¯t help complaining to his mother, ¡°It¡¯s troublesome, I¡¯m tired before I even go out.¡± ¡°Well, it¡¯s always like this,¡± Yuan Wanyun would also attend today, and she has also dressed up a little bit. ¡°You have agreed. Since you can¡¯t go back, just endure it today.¡± The ritual costume was in gold and red, and after putting on the golden crown, Fu Zhiyu looked in the mirror, and the more he looked at it, the stranger it became. ¡°It¡¯s like a wedding dress,¡± he muttered, ¡°It¡¯s weird.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t talk nonsense,¡± Yuan Wanyun looked at him, and then urged, ¡°Hurry up, hurry up, it¡¯s time to go.¡± The governor of Luanzhou had said that he would be welcomed to the temple by the crowd, but he hadn¡¯t gone into details either. The picture Fu Zhiyu imagined at first was relatively simple, just riding down the road on his own horse, but what he didn¡¯t expect was that there would be a special sedan chair. The sedan chair was carried by sixteen people, had carved beams and painted pillars and was very beautiful. This sedan chair had only the lower half and no top. Fu Zhiyu¡¯s neck was sore from the crown of his head, and he only felt that he would definitely have neck pain when he got up tomorrow morning. ¡­Sure enough, there was no benefit in being the King of Jiangnan. He sat on the sedan chair, only to feel that his sore neck attracted all his attention. He couldn¡¯t make any movements in front of the people, so he could only sit upright and endure. When will this be finished, Fu Zhiyu thought absent-mindedly. Advertisements As for the eyes of the people on the street, he didn¡¯t care too much. Fu Zhiyu had been used to being watched since he was a child, and he accepted things like onlookers calmly. But where have people ever seen such a person? The governor of Jiangnan, who was in charge of the great sacrifice before, was fat. Wrapped in this golden and red costume, he looked like a ball. Wearing the complicated crown, he looked very auspicious, like a very festive person in the New Year painting. After seeing him like this for a long time, it seemed that this image was natural. But with a different person, the impression suddenly changed. Fu Zhiyu said that this sacrificial costume looked like a wedding dress. In fact, it made sense. It turned out that the sacrificial person used to be a woman, and her identity was as a bride dedicated to the land god or the river god. In some places, the ¡°bride¡± would be killed in the sacrifice before being sent to the god. This bad habit was changed long ago. The sacrificial activities were retained, but the poor woman was replaced by a person in a high position, and the act of sending the bride became a prayer to the sky for blessings. No girl died as a result of this event, which was also a good thing. Although the costume had been modified, it still retained the shadow of the bride¡¯s attire. The young man on the sedan chair was engulfed in this gorgeous colour, and the golden beads on the crown on his head trembled. After all, he was a man, and there was no makeup. It was just that the red lotus pattern was painted on his forehead, which made his face even more beautiful and unique, making people afraid to look at him directly. Fu Zhiyu never dressed up when he went out, every time just donning a piece of clothes casually. He had never shown the gorgeous and compelling appearance that he had today, accentuating the beauty of his face. The crowd was noisy, and people were saying many things. ¡°Is this Wang Zhao?¡± ¡°He looks like this¡­ is he a fairy?¡± ¡°No wonder when I was in the capital before, I heard that Wang Zhao¡¯s appearance was unparalleled in the world. Now that I look at it, it is really unique.¡± Because it was too noisy, Fu Zhiyu really didn¡¯t hear it clearly, and he didn¡¯t pay much attention to the overly insistent gazes. The sun was hot today, and it was noon. The sedan chair was inlaid with a large piece of glass, and with the precious stones he was wearing, the sedan chair flashed again and again, hurting his eyes, the reflection making Fu Zhiyu unable to see the situation clearly. He was tired; it was hard to be an official. At this time, a dark cloud covered the sun, and Fu Zhiyu blinked, only to feel as if he had just seen a familiar person in the crowd. He turned his head and glanced, and the golden crown swayed with his movement, but the street was full of people on both sides, men, women and children with many different faces looking at him, and it was impossible to tell who was who, and there seemed to be nothing unusual. Fortunately, this section of the road was not long; it was no more than a formality. The ritual was set in Baima Temple outside the city, and there were a lot of people underneath. Fu Zhiyu slowly walked up the steps according to the previous setting. When he walked, the robe he wore dragged on the ground after him for a long time, naturally making him the most watched person in this place. When he reached the top, Fu Zhiyu saluted the abbot in accordance with the ritual. Advertisements On the highest stage, with everyone looking up to it, Wang Zhao stood out even more from the group of monks worshipping the Buddha. He didn¡¯t look like a worshipper of the gods, he looked like a god. The people who could participate in this kind of ceremony were not mediocre. They were all prominent figures in Jiangnan. Although they were under Fu Zhiyu¡¯s command, most of them had never seen what this King of Jiangnan looked like. Who could say how many people clenched their fists inside their sleeves and looked at the man on the stage with inscrutable eyes, with some unknown thoughts in their minds. According to the rules discussed before, the abbot would recite three paragraphs. Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t understand the language he used, and his speech speed was very fast. The governor of Luanzhou explained to him before that these were the questions to God. One was to ask whether God would bless the weather and give the abundant harvest; the second was to ask whether God would bless the country and the people to live and work in peace; and the third was to ask whether God would bless all families with happiness without disease and disaster. Every time the abbot asked, he stopped for a while. Then Fu Zhiyu had to take a stick of incense and offer it to the statue, and it was regarded as God¡¯s answer. It was really not difficult. The three sticks of incense that Fu Zhiyu got in his hand had already been lit. He just had to insert them one by one according to the rhythm into the incense burner in front of him. But with the first incense, Fu Zhiyu realised that there was a problem. There was something wrong with the incense burner. Usually the incense burner was filled with incense ashes, and during rituals like this, the incense ashes would be made solid so that the incense sticks would be stable. But this one was different, the incense was soft inside when the stick was inserted, the kind of soft that didn¡¯t hold the stick at all. This couldn¡¯t have been an accident, it was deliberate. This was a special incense for sacrifice. It was thicker and heavier than the usual incense. If it were an ordinary person, after he inserted the incense in this way, the incense stick would fall immediately. The falling of the incense stick was very unlucky and meant that the gods were not willing to bless everyone. The governor of Jiangnan had done it for so many years before, and he had never had a problem. Now that he was replaced by Fu Zhiyu, the incense fell. It was easy to imagine what the people of Jiangnan would think. He would be talked about by the people to the point where he couldn¡¯t control it. If something happened to Jiangnan, he would definitely be the one to blame. Everyone would say that the King of Jiangnan was not recognised by the gods and caused the disaster. It was unknown whether anyone would use this public opinion to do something at that time. Only now did Fu Zhiyu feel that this was a trap. Others had arranged it and waited for him to fall into it. He was the only one foolishly praying for blessings. Was this a belated show of strength, or after observing for so long, did they finally feel that he was easy to bully? Fu Zhiyu¡¯s mind turned a few rounds, and he paused at the incense burner for a while. His fingers holding the incense also stopped there and remained still. What happened? The abbot was a little confused, and asked in a low voice: ¡°Wang Zhao, what are you doing?¡± But Fu Zhiyu slowly and steadily pressed the incense down, and then motioned to the abbot to continue. The abbot felt that the incense seemed to be a bit shorter, but fortunately, it was fine, and this moment wasn¡¯t too long. He breathed a sigh of relief and recited the next words. What happened next went very smoothly, and after the worship was over, the three long incense sticks stood firmly in the incense burner and hadn¡¯t burned out until the feast was over. After Fu Zhiyu got off the high platform, he hurriedly took off the annoying ornaments and moved his stiff neck, letting out a sigh of relief. He changed into lighter clothes, but the lotus pattern on his forehead, whatever it was painted with, couldn¡¯t be wiped off. ¡°What was wrong with Master up there?¡± Yuan Mingdao was behind him, and he knew something had happened, ¡°Was there a problem with that incense?¡± Yuan Wanyun was also watching from below, and she obviously felt something was not right. Now she was looking at Fu Zhiyu worriedly. ¡°En,¡± Fu Zhiyu nodded and said, ¡°It is fine, it was solved.¡± After he finished speaking, he thought for a while, shook his head to himself, and sneered: ¡°No, look at this, it¡¯s just the beginning.¡± He told the two of them what happened on the platform and said, ¡°It¡¯s just that the incense burner must have been broken by me. I¡¯ll pay for it to Baima Temple in the future.¡± Vigorously performing a miracle, he stuck the incense sticks into the bottom of the copper incense burner. Stuck in three holes in the bottom of the incense burner, the incense sticks were of course stable. But such a thing must have been aimed at Fu Zhiyu. If he didn¡¯t have this strength, things could easily get big. He was the King of Jiangnan. The people didn¡¯t accept him at first. After all, everyone was afraid of change. But there seemed to be no change in the past three years. Everyone had somewhat accepted his existence, and Fu Zhiyu was very low-key. Most of the time, people couldn¡¯t feel his existence, even though, by definition, he was the master of the entire Jiangnan. If the incense had really fallen, Fu Zhiyu¡¯s reputation wouldn¡¯t have been so good, and there would have been plenty of excuses for people to start trouble. The person who did this could be described as having malicious intentions towards him, and the thoughts they held towards him were also very vicious. The fact was Fu Zhiyu really couldn¡¯t tell who was targeting him; he just felt that anyone could target him. ¡°I won¡¯t go to the banquet tonight. Mingdao, help me avoid it,¡± Fu Zhiyu said. He sighed. ¡°I¡¯m not in the mood anymore. I want to go back to my house.¡± He was asked to return the clothes and crown to the Luanzhou government. These two complicated things made him physically tired, but the events on the platform made him even more tired in his heart. He originally thought that Jiangnan was a pure land, so he lived a happy, carefree life for three years. But he still had to feel, with the benefit of hindsight, that where there were people there was strife, and he couldn¡¯t avoid it wherever he went. The timely appearance of Deng Jinghe and the accident during the sacrifice were both a clear reminder of this. CH 71 ¡°Mother, did I make a mistake?¡± Fu Zhiyu couldn¡¯t help asking Yuan Wanyun in the carriage on the way back, ¡°Why is it like this again? Obviously, we have already left the palace, and we still have to meet these dirty tricks behind the scenes.¡± Yuan Wanyun felt distressed for him and slowly stroked her son¡¯s soft hair. ¡°It was not your fault,¡± she comforted, ¡°Xiaobao didn¡¯t do anything wrong, it¡¯s just that some things don¡¯t always work out the way one wants them to.¡± Fu Zhiyu felt extremely tired, and he thought again that many things couldn¡¯t be considered right or wrong. If he had established a little prestige in Jiangnan at the beginning, how could anyone dare to make a move against him on such an occasion? Now that this matter was over, if they wanted to continue to attack, it was not a big deal if they only came at him; what he feared was that it would affect others. He had fixed the things here, but what if they targeted his mother? What if, like in the original story, they were going to reach out to the whole Yuan family? He hadn¡¯t spoken for a long time in the carriage. Yuan Wanyun knew that he was in a bad mood and needed to be quiet for a while, so she didn¡¯t bother him anymore. Fu Zhiyu wasn¡¯t a man without a temper, and now his anger was not something that he could just put up with casually. Even if he calmed down, intellectually speaking, if he took a step back at this time, the others would likely think he was easy to bully. Since he came to Jiangnan, he was afraid that his arrival would disturb the normal lives of others, so he insisted on everything running as it was, and he relaxed a lot. Yuan Jiangxing received a decree from the emperor to bring troops to Jiangnan to guard the area, and he was clearly a man with military power in his hands. After arriving in Jiangnan, because of Fu Zhiyu¡¯s style, he had always been very polite to others, and Yuan Jiangwen had relied on himself to do business, never relying on the power in Fu Zhiyu¡¯s hands to engage in malicious competition. On the contrary, the family was more cautious than before. Now it seemed that he did this, but he made a mistake, making people think that they could just step on him, right? Fu Zhiyu hadn¡¯t slept all night, and he seemed to have made a decision in his heart. The next day, Yuan Jiangxing knew about this matter. Advertisements After discussing with Fu Zhiyu for a while, he directly led his troops to the residence of the governor of Luanzhou. Early in the morning, he unceremoniously pulled the sleeping governor of Luanzhou out of the bed. The four soldiers almost lifted him up and dragged him to the hall outside. ¡°What are you doing!¡± The governor was used to being a powerful man and he hadn¡¯t been so humiliated for a long time, ¡°Do you know who I am? Is it so barbaric! Put me down!¡± This matter was still not suitable for the people to watch. Fu Zhiyu asked someone to close the door. The mansion of the governor of Luanzhou was very big. After the door was closed, no sound inside could be heard outside. In front of the hall, the maids and servants of the governor¡¯s mansion knelt, and the governor himself was pressed to the floor, unable to move. Fu Zhiyu sat on a chair in the middle of the hall. He was dressed formally today. The governor of Luanzhou was still wearing the robe he was sleeping in. When he looked up at Fu Zhiyu, he saw the four-clawed golden dragon on his clothes. Once Fu Zhiyu made up his mind, he moved quickly. He was the only Wang in the dynasty who had had the land given to him. The emperor also rewarded him with clothes with a four-clawed golden dragon, which was one claw away from the five-clawed golden dragon of the emperor. Everyone knew that Fu Zhiyu was very special, and there were all kinds of rumours, saying that it was because he had once saved the life of the current emperor and had an extraordinary relationship with the Xie family that he could have such an honourable status. Therefore, at first no one dared to touch him, cautious and afraid to get into trouble. But after a long time, it seemed¡­ that nothing happened? The emperor had not been to Jiangnan in the past three years, and the Xie family seemed to have forgotten this place. The new King of Jiangnan didn¡¯t care about anything, except for not accepting invitations and not seeing people. But other things were good to talk about; such a mild temperament was bound to make people have crooked thoughts. This entire Jiangnan belonged to Fu Zhiyu. If he was well controlled, wouldn¡¯t it be a great opportunity? This time with the incense burner was just a test. The governor of Luanzhou was pressed down to kneel by the soldiers. He actually knew in his heart what it was all about. But Fu Zhiyu was very polite and courteous when he got along with him before. He looked very good-tempered and easy to deceive. Now he was sitting in the hall with his head lowered, and he didn¡¯t seem to be very angry, he was just drinking tea. It might be just that the Yuan family found out and Yuan Jiangxing was angry, and decided to defend his nephew, the governor of Luanzhou comforted himself. Feeling that he had some confidence in his heart again, he dared to look up at Fu Zhiyu. At that time, he hadn¡¯t paid attention to the situation of the three sticks of incense penetrating the bottom of the copper incense burner when he inspected the incense burner yesterday. He just looked at Fu Zhiyu¡¯s soft appearance. The deep-rooted impression of the previous three years wasn¡¯t so easy to shake, and he felt that as long as he pretended to be innocent, he could get away with it. ¡°Wang Zhao,¡± the governor of Luanzhou looked aggrieved, ¡°is this¡­ what is going on?¡± Advertisements Fu Zhiyu put down the teacup in his hand, glanced at him, and said, ¡°What? Still playing dumb with me?¡± The governor of Luanzhou was responsible for all the things of the ritual, and he came to Fu Zhiyu to talk about the process. It was impossible for him not to know these things. Fu Zhiyu wanted to know who was behind it and who was instructing him to do this. ¡°What are you talking about?¡± The governor of Luanzhou looked confused, ¡°Did this official do something wrong?¡± Fu Zhiyu kindly reminded him: ¡°Yesterday, the matter of the sacrifice.¡± ¡°Is there anything wrong with the sacrifice?¡± The governor still looked puzzled, ¡°Wasn¡¯t everything going well? You see, the temple fair is about to start today, and it is lively outside, and there are still a lot of things on the government¡¯s side to do¡­¡± Fu Zhiyu pushed away the teacup, rubbed his brow and sighed. Sure enough, you can¡¯t be too nice to people. Things had reached this point. This person dared to play dumb in front of him, which was enough to show how much room for fantasy his previous actions had given others. So much so that this man thought he could escape this way, and even start to look around. Fu Zhiyu raised his hand and made a gesture of gently swiping down. Yuan Jiangxing understood, took a step forward, and what he said could be heard throughout the hall. ¡°Thirty military sticks, let¡¯s talk about it after the beating. If he faints, pour a pot of cold water and continue after he wakes up.¡± The governor of Luanzhou had never been beaten by a military stick in his life. He even had a smile on his face, feeling that Fu Zhiyu was just scaring him. But as soon as the soldiers brought up the execution weapon, he felt that something wasn¡¯t quite right. ¡°Wait¡­ wait!¡± But the soldiers didn¡¯t listen to him, and after pressing him to a long wooden bench, they tied his hands and feet. The governor was still wearing the clothes he was wearing in bed, and they basically gave no protection against the beating. When a solid military stick went down, he trembled all over, and then let out a howl like a slaughtered pig. ¡°It was too noisy,¡± Fu Zhiyu said, ¡°Find something to gag him with.¡± While someone was looking for the cloth strip, the third stick was hit. In fact, the governor of Luanzhou couldn¡¯t bear it after the first stick. Yuan Jiangxing brought his own soldiers; they used to guard the border. Naturally, they were more than a little heavy-handed in comparison to the soldiers of the government. ¡°I¡¯ll tell you, I¡¯ll tell you everything!¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s not too late to talk after the thirty sticks are finished,¡± Fu Zhiyu said. ¡°I also brought two doctors, so the governor won¡¯t die. I gave you a chance, but you didn¡¯t cherish it and brushed off my words.¡± There was no such thing as forgiving casually when killing a chicken to warn a monkey (to punish an individual as an example to others). After the thirty military sticks were finished, the governor had already fainted, and the whole mansion was silent, no one daring to come out to stop them. ¡°Bring a basin of cold water,¡± Yuan Jiangxing glanced at the governor, ¡°Didn¡¯t he want to say something? Now it¡¯s time to speak.¡± Now it was just the beginning of spring, and the weather in the morning was still cold. Many people still had to wear cotton-padded clothes at this time. The water that had just been brought from the well was biting cold. After a bucket was poured down, the unconscious man woke up immediately. The governor who had been beaten was red with obvious anger. He struggled on the bench twice and couldn¡¯t stand up, so he stared at Fu Zhiyu as if he wanted to eat him alive. ¡°You are crazy!¡± Looking at the soldiers who were still surrounding him, the governor didn¡¯t dare to say anything too excessive, ¡°You, you, you, do you think there is no law here! I am an official of the imperial court. Which law do you use to carry out the execution?!¡± The governor of Luanzhou was really used to the happy days of the past three years, and now he couldn¡¯t contain his anger. When he said this, Fu Zhiyu laughed. ¡°This wang thinks you are confused. The thirty army sticks haven¡¯t awakened you yet,¡± Fu Zhiyu said. He stood up slowly from his seat and looked at the governor condescendingly. ¡°This wang is the king of Jiangnan. Jiangnan is the fief of this wang. This wang¡¯s law is the law here.¡± The governor of Luanzhou was speechless, his teeth clenched, and cold sweat broke out on his face. ¡°Who instructed you to do this?¡± Fu Zhiyu asked him. The governor knew that this was almost an ultimatum and if he didn¡¯t speak up at this point, he was afraid that it wouldn¡¯t be a matter of thirty military sticks. The soldiers behind him were standing in line, just waiting for Fu Zhiyu¡¯s order. ¡°The Deng and Qian family asked me to help,¡± he said quickly, ¡°I¡­¡± ¡°You wanted to test my depth too, didn¡¯t you?¡± Fu Zhiyu raised his eyebrows and looked at him, ¡°So many ideas.¡± Luanzhou City was the head of Jiangnan and the most prosperous place here. The governor of Luanzhou used to be under the jurisdiction of the governor of Jiangnan. When Fu Zhiyu came, the governor of Jiangnan couldn¡¯t control him anymore, so he became the most powerful official in Jiangnan, and it inflated his ego. ¡°By all accounts, I¡¯m not without blame. When I first came to Jiangnan, you wouldn¡¯t dare to make such a move, right?¡± Fu Zhiyu sighed. ¡°My thoughts were too simple. Since I accepted the decree, I can¡¯t leave it alone. Sooner or later, there will be problems.¡± ¡°You¡­¡± The governor of Luanzhou looked at him, spat out only one word and was interrupted by Fu Zhiyu. ¡°However, if there is a problem, it must be solved,¡± Fu Zhiyu continued, ¡°So, from now on, you will not be the governor of Luanzhou.¡± ¡°You¡­!¡± Fu Zhiyu waved his hand and said, ¡°Don¡¯t get excited, you should have thought of this from the moment I entered the door.¡± He wasn¡¯t a fool, how could he still keep him as an official? ¡°Let Uncle temporarily assume the duties of the governor of Luanzhou,¡± Fu Zhiyu said, nodding to Yuan Jiangxing. ¡°There are many people you can trust under your command, and you can use them everywhere. Jiangnan is big. I don¡¯t believe I can find a few people who I can use instead of using those with crooked thoughts.¡± CH 72 The two families Deng and Qian that the governor, oh no, the former governor named were not unexpected to Fu Zhiyu. Among the inescapable four major families, the Yuan family couldn¡¯t harm itself. Apart from that, the remaining ones could be ruled out one by one. In fact, the former governor¡¯s confession was of no great use to Fu Zhiyu, but it was still necessary to make an example of him. Fu Zhiyu waited for this information to lead the snake out of the hole. Three days later, Luanzhou City was really in an uproar over this matter. There were discussions in the streets and alleys. After all, it was a change of government. The former governor of Luanzhou had a very mediocre reputation here. He had done a few things he was scolded for as a bastard, but he had indeed done a few conscientious things before, not touching the bottom line. He belonged to the kind of official who didn¡¯t make much difference whether he was in power or not, so the fact that he had been replaced was definitely not a cause for outrage. But the people were discussing it with enthusiasm, and it was quite a bit of a spectacle. But to Fu Zhiyu¡¯s surprise, there were still many people who were willing to stand on his side. ¡°Wang Zhao has always had a good temper, and there must be a reason for being so angry this time.¡± ¡°He looks like a fairy. I have seen him during the sacrifice. He was so beautiful. Such a noble person has to be reasonable, right?¡± ¡°That guy was not a good man anyway! It was a good thing to get rid of him and replace him with a new one!¡± After three days, some people couldn¡¯t sit still anymore. The heads of the Deng and Qian families were here, and for the first time in a long while, Fu Zhiyu received an invitation to meet these two officially. ¡°After all, Jiangnan is the fief of Wang Zhao. We, the people, really don¡¯t have much say here.¡± The name of the head of the Qian family was Qian Manguan. It was a very auspicious name (m¨£ngu¨¤n = total success). He was a man with a square face, the kind of face that looked honest at first glance. He held a string of Buddhist beads in his hand and looked at Fu Zhiyu with a very kind smile, ¡°But after all, Governor Liu has been in his post for so many years. If he did something wrong, punishing him with sticks is nothing, but it¡¯s a bit too much to remove him, right?¡± He talked about this matter straightforwardly as soon as he came. Although his tone was kind, the content of his speech was less polite, as if he and Fu Zhiyu were very familiar with each other. Fu Zhiyu glanced at him and said with a smile: ¡°Did something wrong? Master Qian knows very well, what do you think he did wrong?¡± Advertisements ¡°Governor Liu told us all about the sacrifice.¡± The Deng family¡¯s patriarch also stepped forward. He was Deng Jinghe¡¯s father. The original work basically mentioned him to better describe Deng Jinghe, an important supporting role. This middle-aged man was flirtatious by nature and indeed looked very attractive. He was six points similar to Deng Jinghe, except that his body smelled of alcohol so heavily that Fu Zhiyu could smell it from far away. Who knows which brothel he had crawled out of. ¡°You see, if it weren¡¯t for it, we wouldn¡¯t have discovered that there was such a thing during the sacrifice at all. And nothing went wrong, didn¡¯t it go smoothly in the end?¡± He went on trying to gloss things over, ¡°The dragon raises its head on the second day of the second month. It was an auspicious day, why bother to make everyone unhappy? Let¡¯s not make things so serious and make everyone look bad. As we business people always say, harmony breeds wealth. Wang Zhao, don¡¯t you think so?¡± ¡°No,¡± Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t get wrapped up in his pompous words. ¡°But he did explain to me that it was your two families who were giving instructions behind the scenes. And before I even visited, you had come first.¡± ¡°Haha,¡± Qian Manguan laughed dryly, ¡°Wang Zhao is joking. Governor Liu also said that he was in a daze from the cold water at that time and he didn¡¯t remember what nonsense he said. You can¡¯t talk about such things without evidence.¡± ¡°Is that so?¡± Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t argue with them. He didn¡¯t bother to make futile accusations at this point in time. The Deng family head was about to say something else when the lid of the teacup Fu Zhiyu was holding fell off and shattered. The crisp sound of the shattering glass seemed to be a signal, and the soldiers at the door drew out their swords at once but didn¡¯t take the next step. Generally speaking, it was the default rule to be courteous before being aggressive, but Fu Zhiyu¡¯s anger had not yet subsided and he didn¡¯t want to reason with these people. ¡°Master Qian, I don¡¯t think you have figured out the current situation yet,¡± Fu Zhiyu said. ¡°He is no longer the governor. You keep calling him Governor Liu, you also think what I said is useless, don¡¯t you?¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t mean that,¡± Qian Manguan quickly regained his composure, ¡°Please calm down.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t,¡± Fu Zhiyu said, ¡°You see, I just wanted to live a good life in Jiangnan but you had to provoke me, right?¡± ¡°You¡­ you must have evidence to speak.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t need evidence to speak,¡± Fu Zhiyu looked at him, ¡°Jiangnan is my place. If I think you have upset me, I can find trouble with you, understand?¡± As the old saying goes, a strong dragon can¡¯t suppress a snake on the ground (no matter how much power one has, it¡¯s difficult to deal with local forces), but if you encounter an unreasonable dragon, things will not work this way. Qian Manguan twisted the beads in his hand. After listening to this sentence, he and the Deng family head looked at each other with indescribable meaning in their eyes. This conversation seemed very unpleasant, but Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t stop them from leaving. However, the way they left was a bit unsightly, as they were pushed out by the soldiers. As soon as the two of them left, Yuan Jiangxing came out from behind the screen. ¡°Aren¡¯t you teaching them a lesson now?¡± Yuan Jiangxing asked him. ¡°That¡¯s what I said, but you also know that I¡¯m not such a reckless person,¡± Fu Zhiyu glanced at him and said, ¡°They are deeply rooted in this place, and touching one hair can make the whole body move. The governor of Luanzhou could be made an example of killing a chicken to warn a monkey, but when you meet a real monkey, you can¡¯t do whatever you want. But if I don¡¯t talk about it to this extent, they¡¯ll really think I¡¯m just making a little fuss.¡± You can¡¯t say anything about Qian Manguan, but seeing the appearance of the Deng family head, he came to visit reeking of alcohol. When he came, he didn¡¯t take the matter of the governor too seriously, just feeling that it could be negotiated. In other words, he still didn¡¯t take Fu Zhiyu seriously. Fu Zhiyu wanted to show them that he wasn¡¯t a man to be trifled with and that he would make up for every loss he suffered. Advertisements Now he was a target, and unlike the time when he was in the capital and could afford to retreat, here he had retreated too much, which was why they dared to be so arrogant and use all kinds of underhanded tricks. Yuan Jiangxing nodded, thinking of something again, and said, ¡°By the way, I went through the Luanzhou documents. It is very complicated. The entire Luanzhou is intertwined from the top to the bottom. Replacing everyone is definitely not realistic. After all, our people are unfamiliar with it for now, and it always¡­ takes time.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± Fu Zhiyu waved his hand. When he faced Yuan Jiangxing, his voice softened, ¡°It is easy to make mistakes when you¡¯re in a hurry, so take your time. This matter is also my fault, I didn¡¯t let you take care of it before, and now I¡¯m picking it up again, I know in my heart that it is not that easy. Uncle, I¡¯m bothering you.¡± Yuan Jiangxing didn¡¯t say anything and just patted him on the shoulder. His parents were alive and by his side, and his daughter was now living happily. Yuan Jiangxing¡¯s biggest regret in his life had been his sister and nephew, who always made him worry about their bad life. Now he was very happy to do something for Zhiyu while he was still active. After that, the Deng and Qian family sent some gifts, saying that they were shocked and trying to make amends. They looked as if they were lowering their heads, but in fact they were still dead set. Fu Zhiyu knew that they hadn¡¯t given up on the idea of putting back the removed governor. For one thing, they needed the government¡¯s help to do business, and they had easily managed to arrange a smooth relationship with the former governor. Now he had been replaced with Yuan Jiangxing, although there was no major action in the short term, it would definitely not be better in the long run. Secondly, they wanted to know what else Fu Zhiyu could do in this situation. While the Deng and Qian family lowered their heads on the surface, there were no fewer troublemakers. On the sixth day after removing the governor of Luanzhou, Yuan Jiangxing showed him a stack of memorials. ¡°They were all sent by the governors of other cities in Jiangnan,¡± Yuan Jiangxing said, ¡°They all said that the governor of Luanzhou had been removed innocently, making them¡­ panic.¡± Fu Zhiyu smiled angrily, threw these memorials on the table, and said, ¡°Do they mean to force me to abdicate?¡± Yuan Jiangxing sighed and said, ¡°I¡¯m afraid this Jiangnan power is more deeply rooted than we thought, but we can¡¯t yet find those roots.¡± When Fu Zhiyu decided to act, he had already expected the current situation. He should have known that Jiangnan wasn¡¯t the peach blossom garden he thought, and there was no peach blossom garden without challenges in this world. ¡°Jiangwen¡¯s caravan will come back in about two days. He knows more about things here. Let¡¯s discuss it with him carefully at that time.¡± Yuan Jiangxing said, ¡°I don¡¯t believe that I still can¡¯t control these people!¡± Fu Zhiyu thought the same way. Here, the method of the stick was not suitable for widespread use. It could easily hurt innocent people and do them a disservice. Those officials were making trouble, but they were just being instructed by wealthy merchants behind their backs. Cutting off their wealth was the way to deal with them. To fight the snake you have to grab it seven inches from its head. To shoot a man you need to shoot a horse first. He needed to really overcome these people, so that they wouldn¡¯t rush to do anything casually in the future. ¡°They won¡¯t be proud for long,¡± Fu Zhiyu glanced at the memorials on the table and softly said word by word, ¡°I will let them know whose Jiangnan this Jiangnan is.¡± Yuan Jiangwen came back a day early, and as soon as he came back, he arrived at Fu Zhiyu¡¯s mansion. Before Fu Zhiyu could speak, he spoke first: ¡°The Qian family is out of luck! Zhiyu, did you do it?¡± ¡°What?¡± Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t understand; staring at his uncle¡¯s obviously flustered face with an inexplicable expression, he asked, ¡°What happened with their luck?¡± The Qian family started out in the silk and satin business, but later the business grew bigger, and fur, ornaments and the like were also included; their buyers were the big families and the prices were high. ¡°When it comes to fur, the best ones naturally come from the barbarians. The Qian family collected several carts of snow wolf furs there. I heard that there was also a piece of excellent-quality firefox fur in it. The business was already negotiated before the goods arrived. The money was collected. They were only waiting for the caravan to deliver it,¡± Yuan Jiangwen said quietly, ¡°But this batch of goods didn¡¯t even come out of the barbarian territory and was directly intercepted. I heard that it was the barbarian King Xidan who brought soldiers and personally stopped it.¡± Fu Zhiyu frowned: ¡°¡­King Xidan? Does he have nothing better to do?¡± The countries didn¡¯t care much about the business of the caravans nowadays. Although it was common for some officials to take bribes, the major caravans had established relationships early and were prepared for it. How could such a direct robbery happen? CH 73 It was not the first time for the Qian family to get furs from the territory of the barbarians. They had already made arrangements about the border crossing. Who knew that King Xidan would suddenly appear that day, saying that he was visiting the frontline officers and soldiers, and wanted to surprise everyone. That was quite a surprise indeed, but after this man came over, he didn¡¯t go to see the military camp first, but went to the border gate, just in time to meet the Qian family¡¯s caravan coming through the gate. Then he simply stopped it. The people in the caravan were quite confused, and at first they tried to reason with King Xidan, saying that these carts were all fur, they could be inspected at will, and there was absolutely no contraband. King Xidan, who intercepted someone else¡¯s goods, listened to the explanation with a smile, but had no intention of letting go. ¡°Who said this is not contraband?¡± King Xidan said, ¡°As we all know, only my barbarians have snow wolves in the entire continent. These snow wolf furs are naturally from my land. You kill my wolves in my territory. I think you are really bold. Arrest them all and interrogate them well!¡± The caravan couldn¡¯t say anything. The hunting had never been considered, and nothing had ever been prepared in this regard. Although the caravan had martial artists, it was not enough in front of the barbarian army. They were caught all of a sudden, except for one man who was deliberately released to send a message. It was basically impossible to get this batch of goods back. Even the caravan was locked up and had not been released yet. When the Qian family received the news, they knew that the goods were basically lost. If only this batch of goods went wrong, the matter wouldn¡¯t be too big. It was normal for caravans to have occasional accidents. It was not a big deal to lose some money, and the Qian family could afford it. What Qian Manguan was afraid of was that his trade line would be completely destroyed and he wouldn¡¯t be able to ship his goods in the future. Several important business lines of the Qian family were related to the barbarians. If they really failed, a difficult time would come. ¡°I heard that the officials at the barbarian gates were replaced, and the caravans were strictly checked for more than a week and a half. The subsequent batches of goods for the Qian family were then detained. It looks like they will lose a lot of money,¡± Yuan Jiangwen had never seen King Xidan, but he had heard of him, ¡°What¡¯s the matter? Zhiyu, are you friends with him?¡± How could the king of a country have the leisure to suddenly take care of a few pieces of fur? The border was impenetrable, and no matter how the Qian family tried, it was useless. And this matter happened so coincidentally. Just when Fu Zhiyu came to his senses and wanted to deal with them, the Qian family suffered accident after accident all of a sudden. Yuan Jiangwen couldn¡¯t help but think a little about it. ¡°We are not friends. At most I just said a few words to him,¡± Fu Zhiyu was pretty sure. ¡°It was just¡­ a coincidence?¡± But he himself didn¡¯t believe this when he said it. Advertisements King Xidan didn¡¯t play cards according to common sense, but this person was the king of the barbarians, not a whimsical child. If there was no reason behind it, he wouldn¡¯t do such inexplicable things at will. The day after Fu Zhiyu knew about this, the Qian family head begged to allow him to visit. Now his attitude was very different from when he first came. ¡°It¡¯s my fault for not recognising Mount Tai,¡± he saluted Fu Zhiyu as soon as he entered the door, ¡°I beg Wang Zhao to forgive me.¡± Fu Zhiyu: ¡°¡­¡­¡± He was silent for a while, saying nothing. To be honest, he didn¡¯t know what was going on with King Xidan, but to say this at this time would be showing his cowardice instead. ¡°Everything is my fault. Wang Zhao can do whatever he wants. My Qian family is willing to make amends and begs Wang Zhao to let my son live. He doesn¡¯t know anything and has never been involved in anything.¡± Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t know who Qian Manguan¡¯s son was, and he hadn¡¯t seen him before, but he still didn¡¯t say a word, his face didn¡¯t change, and his expression was inscrutable. Qian Manguan couldn¡¯t figure out what he was thinking, but looking at him like this, he panicked even more, gritted his teeth, and knelt down with a puff. ¡°I beg Your Highness Wang Zhao to be lenient! As long as you are willing to let the Qian family go, I will do anything you ask me to do!¡± Fu Zhiyu: ¡°¡­¡­¡± He had a plan and wanted to see this, but the scene came too fast and inexplicably, so he was at a loss for words. ¡°Master Qian is joking,¡± he finally said, ¡°I haven¡¯t seen Young Master Qian. Is there anything wrong with him? What does it have to do with me?¡± Fu Zhiyu was telling the truth, but Qian Manguan heard that this meant that he hadn¡¯t forgiven him yet. ¡°You¡­ don¡¯t joke,¡± Qian Manguan said anxiously. He was trembling slightly all over, looking at Fu Zhiyu as if he was looking at a demon, ¡°My son Qian Mingchong was stopped in the Chen territory. They said he had stolen valuable things. Now he was thrown into the imperial prison. He always had everything he wanted, how could he steal something!¡± Speaking of this, Qian Manguan seemed to be very emotional, his movements were a bit big, and his upper body straightened; but seeing Fu Zhiyu¡¯s expression, he seemed to be splashed with cold water and suddenly knelt back to his original place. ¡°Chen is a hundred thousand miles away from Jiangnan, and the further it gets, the more it has nothing to do with me.¡± ¡°No,¡± Qian Manguan shook his head and looked at his face cautiously from below. ¡°It was the other side that said¡­ that it was the Qian family who provoked the person that shouldn¡¯t be provoked, and told me to beg for that person¡¯s understanding before this matter was over.¡± Qian Manguan hardly had to think about it and immediately came to Fu Zhiyu. Do I have a friendship with Chen? Fu Zhiyu asked himself, but no matter how much he thought about it, he didn¡¯t come up with any results. Advertisements ¡°I don¡¯t know what¡¯s going on,¡± Fu Zhiyu continued to tell the truth. It was impossible for him to do anything for Qian Manguan because this inexplicable matter had nothing to do with him. ¡°What they said over there probably didn¡¯t mean me. Please go back, Master Qian, I won¡¯t see you off.¡± There was a look of despair on Qian Manguan¡¯s face, but before he could speak again, he was taken away by the soldiers at the door who received the order. Fu Zhiyu instructed: ¡°If he comes in the next few days, don¡¯t let him in.¡± The soldiers at the door nodded in understanding. No matter who did this, the Qian family would have to chill for a few days first. Fu Zhiyu had not been idle these days. While checking the inexplicable disaster of the Qian family, he looked at Luanzhou¡¯s documents. The governor of Luanzhou had been removed, and many of the documents left behind were so terrible that Yuan Jiangxing couldn¡¯t read them. A large part of this responsibility belonged to Fu Zhiyu, so he was also going through them. In the past three years, he was really not familiar with Jiangnan. At most, he had taken his mother out a few times. What he saw was very superficial. Only after reading the documents did he know that a city of this size was not easy to run. After all, Yuan Jiangxing was a military general, and some civilian tasks were difficult for him to do. Sister Yuan Xi¡¯s husband had studied before and he was also brought in to help. Fu Zhiyu looked at the documents methodically, but the Qian family was in a mess. According to the news received in the past few days, several trade lines on the barbarian side were annihilated and all of them were interrupted. Not to mention the loss of money, the future business had become slim. Money was one thing, but Qian Mingchong was Qian Manguan¡¯s favourite son, the one he had high hopes for since he was a child. He planned to hand over all his family business to Qian Mingchong when he got old. When something happened on the barbarians¡¯ side, Qian Manguan was glad that his son didn¡¯t take that trade route, but who knew that the Chen border would suddenly become a problem and find a chest of night pearls in the Qian family¡¯s carriage, saying that it was a treasure stolen from the Chen imperial family and was worth a lot of money. A good caravan of merchants was arrested as horse thieves. Stealing imperial things was a felony no matter how you put it. In the best case, the culprits would be exiled, in the worst case beheaded. This time, the Qian family could do nothing even with all its money. The officials who used to have shown some mercy were now incorruptible. At most, they just said that this was a death order from above. The Qian family offended someone who shouldn¡¯t be offended, so they didn¡¯t have to bother here, they had to reach an understanding with that person for this matter to be over. Qian Manguan wanted to smack himself in the mouth with regret. How did he know that Fu Zhiyu, who seemed obedient and not very smart for three years, had such a trick up his sleeve. Even the current emperor of Jilin didn¡¯t have the ability to ask the barbarians and Chen to protect him, right? No one knew that such a big thing would happen just because of the testing attempt of the incense burner during the sacrifice. But the incense burner thing wasn¡¯t something that he had done alone, the Deng family was also involved, so why should they be okay? Qian Manguan held his breath, only to feel that it was very unfair. After he was forcibly expelled from Fu Zhiyu¡¯s mansion, he didn¡¯t go home but turned around and went to the Deng mansion. But unexpectedly, the Deng family wouldn¡¯t open the door to him. This time Qian Manguan was really angry. He had been friends with the Deng family for more than ten years, and once he was a little suppressed, he couldn¡¯t even get in. It made him feel cold, and he even dropped the beads in his hand on the spot. ¡°Tell Deng Qian to come out!¡± He didn¡¯t leave either and lost his temper directly in front of the Deng mansion, ¡°Don¡¯t think it¡¯s alright if he doesn¡¯t see me. I think it¡¯s a matter of time before his bad luck starts!¡± The gatekeeper stopped him while explaining: ¡°It¡¯s really not what you think, it¡¯s really not, don¡¯t make trouble here, don¡¯t let people watch the joke¡­¡± There was such a noise at the gate that even the people passing by had been attracted. Qian Manguan was willing to go out of his way and didn¡¯t care about people watching, but this was the Deng family mansion after all, it was not good to have people watching to see the joke. After a while, someone came out of the gate. ¡°Uncle Qian, please calm down first, and let¡¯s talk about it when you have a sip of tea inside.¡± Qian Manguan glanced at the man, took a deep breath, then waved his hand and told the people under his command to stop. ¡°Jinghe?¡± ¡°It¡¯s me,¡± Deng Jinghe said with a very decent smile on his face, ¡°Please come inside first, the tea is already made at home, the good Biluochun. The Deng family is not what you might expect these days.¡± Qian Manguan glanced at him suspiciously, thought for a while, and still went in. As soon as he entered, he felt that it was very quiet and there was no one in the hall. At this moment, he asked Deng Jinghe, ¡°Where is your father? I have something urgent to discuss with him.¡± Deng Jinghe sat down in his seat slowly and calmly, but what he said was very shocking. ¡°Something happened to my father,¡± he said. ¡°It happened a few days ago. It was said that a girl in the brothel felt cheated by him and held a grudge. My father collapsed in the gutter. The doctor said he was poisoned. Although his life is not in danger, he has been asleep and hasn¡¯t woken up yet.¡± ¡°What?¡± Qian Manguan looked shocked, ¡°Impossible! Why is there no news outside?¡± But he thought about it carefully, and it was true that Deng Qian hadn¡¯t been seen outside in the past few days. In the past, this man had to go to the brothel every day to have fun, and it was rare that he hadn¡¯t been there for so many days. He originally thought that Deng Qian had received the news and was avoiding the limelight. Who knew something like that had happened. ¡°It¡¯s not something honourable, how can you say it to the outside world?¡± Deng Jinghe said, ¡°Uncle Qian, besides, you also know that many people have received the news of the Qian family¡¯s accidents. If something happened to our family, adding fuel to the fire, what do you think the outside world will say?¡± The more Qian Manguan thought about it, the more terrifying it became, and a cold sweat began to appear on his face. He collapsed into a chair all of a sudden and muttered, ¡°Who is this Fu Zhiyu¡­?¡± CH 74 Deng Jinghe also heard Qian Manguan¡¯s emotional sentence. His eyes flashed, but he didn¡¯t answer. The woman from the brothel who had poisoned Deng Qian had run away and had not yet been found. Even if Deng Qian was unaware of danger, Qian Manguan knew him. He was an extremely cautious person, otherwise, it would be impossible for this man who was causing trouble everywhere to live in peace until now. If there was no help or instructions behind the brothel woman, it was absolutely impossible for Deng Qian to be caught in a trap. And after this woman had done this, she could still run away immediately and couldn¡¯t be found. On the surface, there seemed to be nothing wrong with the Deng family¡¯s business at present, but Qian Manguan knew that Deng Qian was quite dictatorial in business, and the entire Deng family was his monopoly. Although his son from the main wife was cultivated by him as an heir, the pulse of the Deng family¡¯s business was still tightly held in Deng Qian¡¯s hands. He consciously felt that he was in his prime, and he was a bit conceited, so no one else could interfere. Now that this man had fallen, it meant that the backbone was suddenly gone. Over time, the overall blow to the Deng family would be no less than that to the Qian family. ¡°I said this to Uncle Qian because I trust Uncle Qian,¡± Deng Jinghe sighed. ¡°Other people don¡¯t know yet and there¡¯s no need for me to say more about what¡¯s at stake, right?¡± When Qian Manguan heard this, his anger dissipated quickly. He looked worried, sighed, and said, ¡°Both of our families have suffered from this disaster, what can we do? How could I know that Fu Zhiyu who seemed so inconspicuous suddenly could do so many things? You say, if the two of us go to him together, can he let us go?¡± Deng Jinghe didn¡¯t answer. He thought for a while and asked another question: ¡°Who came up with the original idea?¡± ¡°Hey,¡± Qian Manguan was a little embarrassed to mention this matter now, ¡°No one came up first¡­ that is, it just clicked.¡± The power in the hands of the King of Jiangnan could be described as a gold mine, but he did nothing, making people jealous when they looked at it. Naturally, the Yuan family among the four great merchants would definitely not join them, but if the remaining three families united their forces, they could cover the sky with one hand in Jiangnan. At that time, they thought that after such a big pressure there was no way Fu Zhiyu wouldn¡¯t be softened. ¡°The Lin family refused to join in, and the talks collapsed. Alas, you also know your Uncle Lin, who is very old-fashioned,¡± Qian Manguan said. ¡°In the end, there were only two of us left. Look, did we do something big? It was just a test first, and it didn¡¯t kill him. What¡¯s more, nothing even happened in the end. Why should he rush to kill us like this?¡± Qian Manguan couldn¡¯t help being a little angry when he said this, but Deng Jinghe lowered his head and smiled, saying, ¡°One shouldn¡¯t have thought of this in the first place. Now we are counterattacked by others and blame others for being too much. Uncle Qian, this doesn¡¯t make sense.¡± ¡°Ugh!¡± Qian Manguan became even more angry when he heard this, ¡°Which side are you taking?¡± Deng Jinghe waved his hand, motioned to him to take it easy, and said, ¡°To be honest, didn¡¯t Uncle Qian just come out of Wang Zhao¡¯s mansion without getting anything? For one thing, he is still angry, and for another, maybe we really didn¡¯t get to the point either.¡± After Qian Manguan heard it, he thought for a while; it made a bit of sense, and he asked, ¡°Does my virtuous nephew have some way?¡± Qian Manguan actually rarely communicated with Deng Jinghe. He had long known that this man wasn¡¯t favoured in the backyard of the Deng family; but now something happened and he looked the calmest. He didn¡¯t panic at all, as if Deng Qian¡¯s bad luck this time was exactly what he wanted. ¡°I don¡¯t have any way. You see, my own family is in chaos,¡± Deng Jinghe smiled and said, ¡°I remember, Uncle Qian is also considered to have some friendship with the Yuan family, right?¡± Advertisements Fu Zhiyu hadn¡¯t figured out what was going on, and while he wouldn¡¯t relent, the Qian family had turned to the Yuan family and begged them. Although the four families competed with each other, they still maintained a superficial peace. Yuan Jiangwen was also embarrassed by this trouble, but it was Fu Zhiyu¡¯s business, and he naturally couldn¡¯t ask him to be forgiving. But it wasn¡¯t a good idea to keep excusing himself, and in the end it was Yuan Lu who went to see Qian Manguan instead of his father. To put it into perspective, the four families had helped and favoured each other, and the fact that Yuan Jiangwen avoided seeing him was a clear indication of his attitude. He was looking to Fu Zhiyu and would certainly not help at this juncture. Yuan Lu came and exchanged pleasantries with Qian Manguan, but in fact, he was a bit absent-minded. Qian Manguan could see it, but there was nothing he could do about it. Time passed day by day, and Chen was thousands of miles away. God knows what other accidents could happen. Qian Manguan didn¡¯t care how much money he paid now, he just wanted to get his son back, so he racked his brains to get close to Yuan Lu. ¡°Dear nephew, look, the Deng family offended you some time ago, but my Qian family didn¡¯t, right? We have always been friends. When you were a child, I hugged you. Your brother Mingchong bought you candy. You can¡¯t just watch him die like this, right?¡± Yuan Lu didn¡¯t remember whether Qian Mingchong had bought him candy, but he knew the reason why his cousin didn¡¯t want to see this man. The whole Yuan family knew about the incense burner incident on the day of the sacrifice. He was happy to see the Deng and Qian family down on their luck, but when Yuan Lu finished dismissing Qian Manguan and turned back to Fu Zhiyu to hear what he meant, he didn¡¯t see a happy look on Fu Zhiyu¡¯s face. ¡°It wasn¡¯t my doing,¡± Fu Zhiyu said, ¡°nor is it under my control. In the short term, it seems to have taken the heat off of me, but on reflection, it is not that simple.¡± Yuan Lu understood and asked him cautiously, ¡°Does Cousin have any suspicions in mind?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± Fu Zhiyu was silent for a moment and added, ¡°If the Qian family comes looking for you, just procrastinate, wait and see.¡± The Qian family didn¡¯t get the slightest assurance from Yuan Lu, and after a few days, something happened to the Deng family again. ¡°Yesterday, a shopkeeper of the Deng family in Yongzhou ran away with money,¡± Yuan Lu gossiped with Fu Zhiyu while nibbling on melon seeds. ¡°He probably received the news that Deng Qian was unconscious. The funny thing is that the Deng family¡¯s business is too big. There are several sets of accounts in the shop. Deng Qian is not there and the people left by the Deng family can¡¯t even tell how much money the shopkeeper took away.¡± Deng Qian¡¯s accident could be concealed for a while but it couldn¡¯t be concealed for a lifetime. The man used to hang out all day long, but now he hadn¡¯t appeared for so many days in a row. If you talked about waiting out a storm, it had been for too long. After thinking about it a little bit, you could figure out that something was wrong. The shopkeeper who ran away was like opening a floodgate. Such a big thing happened but Deng Qian hadn¡¯t come. It was Deng Jinghe who came to clean up the mess. Any interested person would notice that. The first thing Fu Zhiyu did was to deal with the governor of Luanzhou, and then the Deng and Qian families interfered, trying to persuade him to return the governor but didn¡¯t succeed. Now the Deng and Qian families were down on their luck, and it was impossible not to connect it to Fu Zhiyu. What was the origin of this King of Jiangnan? Advertisements Fu Zhiyu knew all kinds of speculation from the outside. He was still looking through the Luanzhou documents. The more he looked at it, the more he felt shocked, trying to learn more about Jiangnan, with Luanzhou as the centre. Although this area of Jiangnan was known for its wealth, outsiders only saw the surface of the wealthy merchants throwing money around, but in reality, it was only a small group of people at the top who had money, while the people at the bottom were still living in misery. Take the Qian family as an example; their silks, not to mention the top of the range, just the regular fabrics in the shop were for the ladies of the landlord families who had some money, and would be sold for ten taels of silver per bolt of cloth. But the weavers at the bottom, who worked day and night to make this kind of cloth, could only earn fifty wen, and the money in the middle was earned by the wealthy merchants. In fact, the family that could make money by their own craftsmanship was already pretty good. The women in the family were diligent and could make one bolt of cloth in five days. Earning fifty wen could allow a family of three to eat for ten days. But there were more people in Jiangnan who were struggling for food in the fields, suffering rent from the landlords and, depending on the will of Heaven, if a bad year came, starving to death was nothing unusual. Generally speaking, Jiangnan was indeed much better than other places. After all, it was a fertile land, a famous land of fish and rice. But it was a fact that the gap between the rich and the poor was serious. What was hidden under the surface of prosperity was indeed shocking. Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t know what to say. He didn¡¯t mean to drag out the matters of the Deng and Qian families. In fact, seeing these two families like this, most of the anger in his heart had subsided. He wasn¡¯t a vindictive person. Now his anger was replaced by another mood. For him, was it really right to leave things alone? He began to feel confused; sometimes holding the document in his hand, he couldn¡¯t help but stare at it for a long time. After Fu Yanran became the emperor, he actually did a very good job. Although many people at court knew that he was actually the puppet emperor of the Xie family, the Xie family wasn¡¯t incompetent, nor did it act in a domineering manner. Fu Yanran, Xie Lin, and Shen Yang, who took office as Prime Minister, were all three extremely sober people, and they all had ambitions. What¡¯s more, Shen Yang was reborn, and he knew what he was doing. Taking advantage of this big change, Jilin¡¯s officialdom had also undergone a lot of changes. Corrupt appointments were replaced, the victims of oppression and those with meritorious deeds rose, and taxes were lowered one after another. Fu Zhiyu could see the situation getting better and better. In the past three years, he had always felt that he was free from the outside world, content to feel that none of this had anything to do with him. But now that the wealthy merchants made a move on him, he woke up. Yes, now the Deng and Qian families had suffered inexplicably. If he let go now, the barbarians and Chen would let go too; after all, it was very likely that they were doing this at the behest of that person. After this incident, no one in Jiangnan would dare to touch him. Fu Zhiyu could live a carefree life after establishing his authority, as he had planned before. With this lesson from the past, no one would dare to disturb him again for at least a few years. But¡­ after reading these documents, could he really care about nothing? Fu Zhiyu originally just wanted to get some understanding first. After all, he drove the former governor out of office; he was going to learn about the situation in Luanzhou and Jiangnan and find someone he could trust to be the governor, keeping an eye on him from time to time, considering himself responsible for the consequences. But now he looked at these things and couldn¡¯t help but think more and more. CH 75 Qian Manguan was still running around looking for connections, not knowing that Fu Zhiyu¡¯s mind was no longer on him.To be precise, even if he thought of things about the Deng and Qian families, his attention wasn¡¯t focused on them. He knew about Deng Qian¡¯s poisoning, but he didn¡¯t have the antidote and he didn¡¯t know what kind of poison Deng Qian had been poisoned with. He wasn¡¯t in charge of Chen and the barbarians who dealt with the Qian family. It was someone hiding behind the scenes. Now it was just another proof that in the face of real power, all conspiracy methods were useless. It was not a good idea to drag it out until today. Fu Zhiyu rubbed his brow and talked to Yuan Jiangxing about it: ¡°I wrote two letters to the barbarians and Chen, and I also stamped them with my seal. If Qian Manguan comes next time, I will give them to him. As for whether they will be useful or not, I can¡¯t guarantee it. As for Deng Qian¡¯s poison, there is nothing I can do.¡± However, the Deng family wasn¡¯t as anxious as Qian Manguan. Deng Qian, who was the family¡¯s backbone, had an accident, but the Deng family was much calmer than Qian Manguan was about his son¡¯s plight. It was weirdly quiet. The shopkeeper who ran away with the money didn¡¯t make any waves, and the storm calmed down inexplicably. No matter what angle you looked at it from, there was no good outcome if this went on. Fu Zhiyu was done with his anger, and the Deng family had countless shops in their hands, supporting many employees. If they collapsed too much, no one would be able to do anything and a long standoff would only result in a lose-lose situation. This incident was started by them, but for Fu Zhiyu, it didn¡¯t end like this. Yuan Jiangxing nodded and asked him: ¡°Are you still going to the government office to look at the documents today?¡± Fu Zhiyu nodded. In the past, Yuan Jiangxing brought a few representative volumes to his mansion to show him, but Fu Zhiyu read more and more, and finally went out of the mansion to the government office to look through the documents every day. When Yuan Jiangxing looked at Fu Zhiyu now, he felt very happy in his heart and felt that Zhiyu now was a bit more alive than before. Although the beginning of this matter wasn¡¯t good, it wasn¡¯t necessarily a bad thing for Zhiyu. But today Fu Zhiyu encountered a little accident. He got in the carriage to go to the government office. There was a section of the road through the western part of the city. There were a lot of people there. Fu Zhiyu still held a document in his hand, reading it. This was a local journal and there was a copy of the topography. He took the topography back home to look at it carefully and now in the carriage he didn¡¯t forget to take it out to look at it some more. At this moment, he suddenly instinctively felt something was wrong. Maybe it was that he had turned too many corners today, which made him feel strange sitting in the carriage. Fu Zhiyu frowned and slowly opened the curtains. The road in front of him was very strange. Sure enough, this was not the way to the government office. Advertisements Fu Zhiyu was puzzled for a while, and then looked around. He often went to the government office recently, and the road was all within the city, so he was familiar with it a long time ago. Nowadays, people viewed Fu Zhiyu as a poisonous snake and couldn¡¯t wait to get as far away from him as possible. No one would touch him. He brought guards a few times before, but stopped bringing them because it was too troublesome. He simply brought a coachman, travelling light. Who knew such a thing would happen today. When he found out that something was wrong, Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t worry too much. He took a look and knew that he hadn¡¯t left the city yet, but it was a remote area and there were fewer people. When one went through the city gate, leaving the city, soldiers usually had to cross-examine the carriage when they saw it. As long as he was not deaf in the carriage, he would hear the questioning. ¡°Where are you taking me?¡± Fu Zhiyu glanced at the unfamiliar back of the coachman and asked in a kind voice, ¡°I am relatively busy today, I have a lot of things to do. I don¡¯t have time to be angry with others. You send me back now and I will let you go.¡± When the coachman saw that he had already discovered the situation, he was taken aback at first and then revealed his fierce face. He stopped the carriage and drew a knife from under the seat in an instant, but before he could say any threatening words, Fu Zhiyu hit his wrist with a palm, and the knife fell down. ¡°Who told you to come here? Qian Manguan or Deng Jinghe?¡± Fu Zhiyu still felt very strange to see the man being so easy to deal with. It was impossible for these two people not to know the result of the incense burner incident and to be so careless. Sending such a useless coachman to deal with him, these two people couldn¡¯t be stupid to this extent, right? The coachman gritted his teeth, looked at him in disbelief, and asked, ¡°Why are you still awake?¡± Fu Zhiyu glanced around the carriage and suddenly realised: ¡°Oh, it doesn¡¯t seem to be so stupid, you guys have also drugged me.¡± No wonder he smelled that the incense burning in the carriage today was different from usual, but Steward Zhou often came up with some fresh tricks, and Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t think much about it. He had a special physique, and his strength and blood had changed with age. His mother had given feedback to him that his blood effectiveness had become stronger, and often reminded him to be careful and never reveal the abnormality of his blood to the outside world. The incense they put in here didn¡¯t make him feel anything other than that he was a little dizzy when he inhaled too much. There was no telling where this man intended to send him. Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t bother to ask. He knocked him out with a slash of his hand and tied him up, then threw him into the carriage, and drove the carriage to the government office by himself. He handed this person over to Yuan Jiangxing¡¯s soldiers, briefly explained the matter, and then told them to interrogate him well to see who was making trouble again. The person guarding the government office now happened to be Yuan Xi¡¯s husband. After listening to Fu Zhiyu¡¯s words, in addition to obeying orders, he couldn¡¯t help but care about his brother-in-law: ¡°Are you okay?¡± The incense burning in the carriage was also brought over. He just sniffed it from a distance, and even though he was on guard, he suddenly felt dizzy. Was Fu Zhiyu actually okay? ¡°When I was in the imperial family, I received some training,¡± Fu Zhiyu found an excuse. Anyway, no one would poke holes in him here. ¡°You can investigate for now. If you find something, wait for me to come out and tell me. I¡¯ll go here to look at the documents.¡± Advertisements Because of this accident, he arrived at the government office much later than expected. Fu Zhiyu took the document he hadn¡¯t finished reading yesterday and sat down to flip through it. After a while, someone came in. Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t look up. It was probably the servant who came to serve him tea. The servant had his head lowered, served Fu Zhiyu a fruit plate and snacks, and then hot tea. He said in a muffled voice: ¡°The weather is still cold, take a sip of hot tea and warm yourself up.¡± Fu Zhiyu still didn¡¯t look up. He turned a page, then said ¡°Yes¡± absent-mindedly, and added, ¡°I will drink it. Close the door when you go out.¡± The servant answered ¡°En¡±, and after completing the arrangements lowered his head and prepared to go out. He was halfway out when he heard Fu Zhiyu call out to him, ¡°Wait!¡± The figure of the servant stiffened abruptly, and he was frozen unnaturally for a while, then slowly turned around, still lowering his head, and asked, ¡°Does Wang Zhao have any orders?¡± ¡°Take this out,¡± Fu Zhiyu pointed to the stove on the table, ¡°This is where the documents are stored, there can be no open flame.¡± In order to heat the tea for him, the servant brought a small stove with charcoal burning inside, so as to ensure that the tea the master drank was always warm. Fu Zhiyu was careful. It was fine if he didn¡¯t take a sip of hot tea, but if this room full of documents was burned down, it would be a damn nuisance. This was the master¡¯s order, and the servant couldn¡¯t say anything. He took the teapot off the stove and carefully took the stove away. ¡°You¡­ be careful not to burn your hands.¡± The special teapot had just been taken off the stove and set aside to cool, and the servant couldn¡¯t help but care: ¡°When the time comes, please call, and this slave will come in and add hot tea to you.¡± Fu Zhiyu nodded casually and told him to leave. When he felt that his mouth was dry, he took a sip of tea. The temperature of the tea was just right. When a mouthful of warm tea moistened his throat, it cleared his mind. The incense burning in the carriage wasn¡¯t very effective for Fu Zhiyu on the spot, but the aftereffects of this medicine were very lingering. Fu Zhiyu felt them after sitting for a long time. There was always a faint feeling of drowsiness. He felt much better after drinking this sip of tea. He felt comfortable, so he slowly finished drinking the pot of tea that was left behind. When the servant came to add hot tea again, Fu Zhiyu asked with some interest: ¡°What kind of tea is this?¡± ¡°It was the Ujeon treasured by the former governor,¡± the servant explained. ¡°The commander outside said that the master was dizzy today and asked to make him some good tea. This is the best tea in the house, but there is not much left, this was one last brew.¡± After listening to this, Fu Zhiyu felt it was a pity that he hadn¡¯t tasted this tea before. He was thinking about buying some to take home, but good tea was rare, and he was fortunate to be able to take a sip at this time. He stayed in the room until a little before evening; when the daylight outside wasn¡¯t enough for him to read, he was ready to go back. When Fu Zhiyu went out, he also asked about the coachman by the way: ¡°How is the interrogation going?¡± ¡°It is almost done. He knocked out the original coachman this morning and changed his clothes. He said he was¡­ instructed by the Qian family, but he just wanted to threaten you.¡± Fu Zhiyu looked puzzled: ¡°Didn¡¯t I give the Qian family the letters today?¡± Then he guessed that this thing was planned ahead. When he went out in the morning, Yuan Jiangxing shouldn¡¯t have delivered the letters yet. ¡°This is really¡­¡± Fu Zhiyu rubbed his brow, ¡°Don¡¯t let the coachman go, lock him up carefully.¡± As a result, when Fu Zhiyu returned to his mansion in the soldier¡¯s carriage, he met Qian Manguan head-on. ¡°Wang Zhao!¡± Qian Manguan¡¯s eyes lit up as soon as he saw him, ¡°I have already received the letters. Thank you for your kindness. I have prepared this gift, but your steward just won¡¯t let me in! Do you think this¡­?¡± Before Fu Zhiyu could speak, the soldiers beside him came up to stop Qian Manguan. Fu Zhiyu said with a cold snort, ¡°I think it¡¯s a weasel paying his respects to a chicken. Master Qian still hasn¡¯t reconciled this time, has he?¡± Qian Manguan was taken aback, wondering if Fu Zhiyu was still angry. It didn¡¯t make sense. If he was still angry, it would have been enough not to give those two letters, there was no need to give him a cold face. ¡°What does it mean?¡±Qian Manguan looked puzzled, ¡°I beg Wang Zhao to explain.¡± When he stood in front of the door and understood the matter clearly, his first reaction was to deny it. ¡°Absolutely impossible!¡± Qian Manguan was shocked first, and then his face darkened, ¡°This must be someone deliberately slandering our Qian family! Your Highness Wang Zhao, with things being like this, how can I have the courage to do this kind of thing again? Isn¡¯t that fatal?¡± CH 76 Fu Zhiyu knew it wasn¡¯t that simple, but he was already prepared to let the Deng and Qian families off the hook, so there was no point in dwelling on it now. He didn¡¯t accept Qian Manguan¡¯s gift, nor did he say anything about Qian Manguan¡¯s explanation, he just smiled and went into the house by himself. It was none of his business what other people speculated about, so he left it to others to be frightened. However, Qian Manguan, who was stopped by Fu Zhiyu¡¯s soldiers, didn¡¯t leave and shouted loudly enough for Fu Zhiyu to hear him when he entered the house. ¡°Call that person out, I want to confront him on the spot! How can you stain people¡¯s innocence out of thin air!¡± He said, ¡°I¡¯d like to see, at this juncture, which villain is doing it behind our backs?! The loyalty of my Qian family to Wang Zhao can be seen by heaven and earth!¡± Fu Zhiyu really laughed at this sentence. If the Qian family was really loyal to him, how could so many things happen? Business required a thick skin, and Qian Manguan¡¯s ability to see the wind and set the helm (to be flexible and take advantage of the situation) was first-class. ¡°Early tomorrow morning, let them confront each other,¡± Fu Zhiyu ordered, ¡°Let¡¯s see who is playing tricks again.¡± However, the two letters from Fu Zhiyu were really useful. Within a few days, news came that Chen had released the people, and the barbarians also immediately relented. Although a lot of silver and goods were lost and the Qian family was bleeding heavily, at any rate there was a result. But there seemed to be no movement in the Deng family. Perhaps it was because they saw the Qian family¡¯s lessons from the recent past and felt that even if they begged Fu Zhiyu, it would be useless, this Wang Zhao was too hard-hearted. Or perhaps their family was in turmoil and they really didn¡¯t have the time to do anything. Although the Qian family was hit hard, both the barbarians and Chen relented now. Money was lost but in the future, they could still make money from doing business. Anyway, the problem that money could solve was not a problem in this case. But the Deng family, according to Yuan Lu¡¯s gossip, was now in a difficult position to protect itself, and the trouble was coming from inside the family. ¡°It is all messed up. In fact, no one in this family can make decisions except Deng Qian,¡± Yuan Lu shook his head. He didn¡¯t gloat at this time, but thought deeply, ¡°I can¡¯t say anything about the others, but Deng Jinghe, I don¡¯t think he is that simple. He is not the kind of person who sits and waits to die. But even he doesn¡¯t move. The muddy waters of the Deng family are much more complicated than the Qian family.¡± The countless women in Deng Qian¡¯s backyard were all obedient like rabbits when he was still there, like a pool full of white lotuses. After he had an accident, some people pretended to serve the sick honestly for a few days. Then the shopkeeper ran away, and the rumour that the Deng and Qian families offended Wang Zhao couldn¡¯t be held back. Things spread like wildfire, and within a few days, something started to happen in the Deng family¡¯s backyard. ¡°It was said that the steward in the mansion was seduced by a concubine in the backyard and stole the things from the treasury in the mansion. The stolen things were the treasures of the Deng family¡¯s ancestors, and he ran away with them,¡± Yuan Lu told Fu Zhiyu. ¡°This is a small problem, and Deng Qian hasn¡¯t woken up yet. An ant hole destroys a thousand-mile dam. The longer he sleeps, the more trouble he¡¯ll be in.¡± ¡°The poison is not my fault,¡± Fu Zhiyu shook his head after listening to it. ¡°In fact, their family is in a much better situation than the Qian family. If it weren¡¯t for Deng Qian¡¯s monopoly, his absence during this period of time would have little effect. Moreover, for the poison, you can find a wandering doctor to solve it.¡± While he was talking about this, Dr. Chen came in. Advertisements He was no longer an imperial doctor, but his mood was much better than when he was in the palace. Steward Zhou knew that his relationship with Fu Zhiyu was extraordinary and didn¡¯t stop him, just letting him inside. ¡°Master, there is something strange.¡± He saluted Fu Zhiyu and then went straight to the point, ¡°When I was cleaning the table today, I found that someone put this there.¡± Fu Zhiyu took it and glanced at it. It was a very small package. He didn¡¯t open it immediately, but just asked, ¡°What¡¯s inside?¡± Dr. Chen¡¯s words were concise: ¡°The method of treating Deng Qian and the medicine. And it requires the application of needles, so I can save this Jiangnan man.¡± Speak of Cao Cao, and Cao Cao arrives. Fu Zhiyu even found it a bit funny and asked, ¡°Did you find it today?¡± ¡°Yes, but the desk hasn¡¯t been cleaned up for several days. It was very messy. Today, the apprentice took the time to clean it up and I found it. I came here as soon as I saw it,¡± Dr. Chen explained. ¡°I don¡¯t know if it was left there today. Maybe it was a few days ago, but the people in the medical centre came and went, and I really don¡¯t have the impression of who put it there. Master¡­ what do you want to do, to save this man or not?¡± The fact that Dr. Chen was a person brought over by Fu Zhiyu was known to everyone. Although he now ran a medical centre, he was not so selfless as to run to save anyone. Regarding this kind of big event, he naturally still needed to ask Fu Zhiyu¡¯s opinion, he was not old and confused yet. ¡°Who gave it?¡± Yuan Lu also took it and looked at it, and then glanced at Fu Zhiyu again, with a very surprised expression, ¡°Isn¡¯t this¡­ doesn¡¯t it mean to leave it all to Cousin to decide? Cousin, who the hell is it? Is it really like what is said outside, that it is the current emperor secretly helping you?¡± Yuan Lu hadn¡¯t been in the capital for a long time. He was really unaware of his cousin¡¯s hard-to-sort-out relationships, and only felt curious. ¡°Really?¡± He couldn¡¯t help but re-confirm, ¡°I can¡¯t think of anyone else with such abilities and connections.¡± He couldn¡¯t think, but Yuan Mingdao¡¯s face darkened when he heard it. He glanced at Yuan Lu and said, ¡°Don¡¯t ask any more questions.¡± It was the first time Yuan Lu saw him so unhappy; he wasn¡¯t stupid and immediately closed his mouth. If it weren¡¯t in front of his cousin, such disrespectful words would be a great crime to be heard. ¡°I looked at the package. I also heard of the poison Deng Qian had been poisoned with. It is a soul-soothing poison from the Western Regions,¡± Dr. Chen added. ¡°It is not really a poison. It doesn¡¯t cause much damage to the human body. It just makes people lethargic. If it is not solved, you will continue to sleep. Even if it lasts a little longer, you will not die. You may have to be weak for a few more days after waking up.¡± What Dr. Chen meant was that Fu Zhiyu would be fine if he thought about it for a few more days. Without that matter about the coachman, Fu Zhiyu would directly tell Dr. Chen to go. After all, in his heart now, the affairs of these two families were already in the past. But looking at Qian Manguan like that, he really didn¡¯t know. Fu Zhiyu listened to the report of the confrontation between the two, and Yuan Jiangxing¡¯s soldiers watched Qian Manguan all the time, so Fu Zhiyu also had some insights. ¡°I think that someone uses this matter to use me as a spearhead,¡± Fu Zhiyu said. ¡°People outside are afraid of me now, and they don¡¯t dare to talk too much, but if this continues, all the troubles that have happened during this time will be considered my doing.¡± He paused when he said this, then thought for a while, tapped his fingers on the desktop, handed the package to Dr. Chen, and then said, ¡°You give this thing to Qian Manguan. If he wants you to save Deng Qian, do it.¡± Yuan Lu said suspiciously: ¡°The Qian family and the Deng family are good friends, it is impossible for him not to save Deng Qian, right?¡± ¡°This¡­ is really not certain.¡± Dr. Chen didn¡¯t know the reason, he just nodded and was about to leave when he heard Fu Zhiyu say: ¡°By the way, when you go to deliver this thing, if Qian Manguan stuffs you with something, whether it is silver or whatever, take it all, just think of it as a deal between you and me. Go first thing tomorrow morning.¡± After he finished speaking, he explained a few other things. Dr. Chen understood what he meant, and after listening to these words, his heart was at ease. ¡°I see, Master, don¡¯t worry.¡± Yuan Lu rolled his eyes, guessing what Fu Zhiyu was going to do, and said nothing more. Advertisements But Yuan Mingdao next to him was still angry about his previous speculation. After Yuan Lu left, his face turned even darker. ¡°What¡¯s the matter with you?¡± Fu Zhiyu looked at him, propping up his face, with a little smile on his lips, ¡°The more you grow up, the more you like to be stone-faced. Obviously, you¡¯re not old yet, you¡¯re just like a little old man.¡± ¡°Master clearly knows,¡± Yuan Mingdao moved closer to him. Even though he was teased by Fu Zhiyu, his face didn¡¯t change much. ¡°I discussed it with Yuan Lu. During this time, I won¡¯t go out to travel on business, I will stay with Master. I can tell who did this at first glance.¡± Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t deny it; he smiled a little, lowered his head and took a sip of wine. ¡°What do we need him for!¡± Yuan Mingdao held back his anger and continued, ¡°It is as if no one else can do anything! We also have an army, and Yuan Lu and I had plans after we knew. Even if Master doesn¡¯t do anything, we can make the Deng and Qian families bow their heads. He¡­¡± ¡°Even I¡¯m not so angry, look at you, who is remembering him?¡± Fu Zhiyu smiled, interrupting Yuan Mingdao¡¯s resentful words, ¡°Mingdao, calm down, do you want to have a drink? It is very good peach blossom brew, you see, I was not willing to give it to Dr. Chen when he came over.¡± He brought the cup to Yuan Mingdao¡¯s mouth, but Yuan Mingdao always retained a little bit of childishness in front of him. He turned his head away, obviously throwing a little tantrum. He felt that Fu Zhiyu was blocking his mouth and didn¡¯t want to seriously talk to him about this issue. Seeing that he didn¡¯t drink, Fu Zhi smiled and drank the wine himself. After he finished drinking, he sighed, and his tone became serious: ¡°Mingdao, there is really no point in caring about what has happened. No matter who did it, even if it was Xie Ke, this matter really went my way. No matter how good a thing is, it will never be perfect. Focusing on the immediate situation is the important thing. The past really cannot be changed. Just look at the results. Mingdao, it is useless for you to be angry. Better go with me and look at the documents tomorrow. Anyway, you have to do business with Yuan Lu here, and it¡¯s right to understand the situation in all parts of Jiangnan.¡± Yuan Mingdao¡¯s eye still twitched uncontrollably when he heard Fu Zhiyu mention Xie Ke¡¯s name. ¡°I hate him,¡± he said in a muffled voice, ¡°He is coming to haunt Master again, I hate him.¡± Fu Zhiyu shook his head, sighed and said, ¡°Mingdao, I still say the same thing. I don¡¯t remember the past and don¡¯t worry about the future. This is actually the truth. You will only make yourself uncomfortable if you keep getting depressed. Besides, me and Xie Ke are not as simple as you think.¡± Yuan Mingdao stopped talking. ¡°Now, I have more important things to do, even the Deng and Qian families can¡¯t compare, let alone the so-called love affairs,¡± Fu Zhiyu continued, ¡°Mingdao, isn¡¯t this what you want to see? Why, instead of focusing on me, you are now setting your sights on others?¡± Yuan Mingdao finally turned his head, stared at Fu Zhiyu for a long time and said, ¡°Master, I¡¯m sorry. I just hope you live a good life and are not disturbed.¡± ¡°I have been living a good life,¡± Fu Zhiyu smiled, ¡°You won¡¯t find another person in this world who has a better life than me, really.¡± After Yuan Mingdao heard this, he looked into Fu Zhiyu¡¯s eyes and couldn¡¯t help but smile. ¡°Go to bed early,¡± Fu Zhiyu patted him on the shoulder; he was also tired, ¡°There are more things to do tomorrow.¡± CH 77 Fu Zhiyu knew in his heart that the coachman¡¯s affairs were not that simple, but he didn¡¯t want to take care of it now, so he let the Qian family tinker with these things on its own. Anyway, Qian Manguan should have had time now. What he said to Yuan Mingdao was sincere, and from the perspective of the entire Jiangnan, those intrigues didn¡¯t attract his attention anymore. It was just a matter of the past, and it was a distraction to keep an eye on it too much now. Yuan Mingdao listened to him and went to sleep obediently. Fu Zhiyu shook the jug and there was still half a jug of wine left. ¡°It can¡¯t be wasted,¡± he murmured to himself, took the jug and walked into his room, simply giving up the cup and drinking directly from the jug. Jiangnan¡¯s peach blossom brew was good to drink, but it was actually a strong wine with a lingering aftertaste. Fu Zhiyu was a good drinker, but he drank the whole jug and he couldn¡¯t help but feel a little dazed. He shook the jug, and there was no drop left in it. He put the jug aside casually, but he didn¡¯t hold it steady. The jug fell to the floor from the edge of the small table. There was a carpet on the floor and the jug wasn¡¯t broken, but it was slowly spinning on the carpet. Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t pay much attention to it and didn¡¯t bother to pick it up. He took a few steps to his bed, but he was a bit sleepy and stopped halfway through changing into his bedclothes. He casually pulled his neckline open and felt a little relieved. Then he lay on the bed, falling asleep after a while. His posture was really not very reserved. His clothes were in a mess, his face was reddened by the alcohol, his arms and legs were spread out, and the quilt was casually pulled over him, half covering and half not covering him. Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t like to be served. When he was in the palace, he had to be served by two maids in his bedroom. If they were not allowed to enter, they had to stay outside. Now in Jiangnan, except for the woman who came to help clean the room every day, he dismissed the other personal maidservants, not keeping any of them. He also felt a lot more comfortable. He turned over while lying on the big bed, and the stove in the room was burning vigorously. Even without being covered by the quilt, he felt warm and comfortable, and his face looked flushed. The security in the mansion was also much looser than it used to be in the capital. Yuan Jiangxing sent two teams to patrol from time to time at night; but if some people wanted to come in, it was not very difficult. At this moment, the window on the other side of the bed slowly half-opened, and a figure quickly came in. The man closed the window back lightly, but at this moment a trace of cold wind leaked inside. Fu Zhiyu, who was lying on the bed, felt it. He wrinkled his nose, moved his body deeper into the bed, and then turned over, pulling the quilt to wrap himself up like a silkworm. He did this as nothing more than an unconscious act while asleep, like someone kicking off the blanket, but the visitor stiffened in place for a few moments when he heard the movement, and only slowly sighed in relief when the person in the bed was quiet again. ¡°Drinking so much wine,¡± the visitor said to himself as he walked to the bed and immediately smelled a strong smell of wine, ¡°Although the peach blossom brew is delicious, it is too strong, and it hurts if you drink too much. In the future, I will ask them to bring less wine and to change it to something less strong. It will be just as good. You will like it.¡± Fu Zhiyu was sleeping heavily and didn¡¯t hear a word. Advertisements After he turned over, his face was facing inward, and his whole body was also wrapped in a rolled-up quilt. The visitor didn¡¯t dare to move him, but could only see the round, arched back in the quilt. ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± the visitor said again, his voice even lower for fear of disturbing Fu Zhiyu, ¡°I promised you to leave, and I know you don¡¯t want to see me again, but¡­ I, I sometimes really can¡¯t help it, I miss you so much, just look at it like this, you won¡¯t see me, it doesn¡¯t count¡­ as a breach of the promise.¡± He stood at the edge of the bed and watched for a long time, but didn¡¯t dare to touch him with a finger. Fu Zhiyu slept until early the next morning. He was sort of hungover, and his head ached a little when he woke up. ¡°Ah¡­¡± He held his head, feeling that it was heavy, ¡°Sure enough, you shouldn¡¯t drink so much wine.¡± He usually lived a very healthy life. He used to drink a small glass of wine when the mood struck him, but this time he had been thinking a lot and had a lot on his mind, so he couldn¡¯t stop drinking yesterday, and he drank the whole jug. He lay on the bed for a while, then struggled to get up and poured himself a glass of water. After drinking it, he felt much better. He sat down and took a look. The jug that he had emptied yesterday was standing upright on the table. Obviously, this was a normal scene, but he felt a little strange looking at it, as if something was wrong. Should this jug¡­ be here? Fu Zhiyu shook his head; he really couldn¡¯t remember. At this moment when Fu Zhiyu was in a daze, Dr. Chen, who had Fu Zhiyu¡¯s order, was already sitting in Qian Manguan¡¯s house. Dr. Chen looked honest, and he was indeed very kind, but after all, he came out of the palace and followed Fu Zhiyu for more than a day or two. With just a few words yesterday, he could clearly know what the master meant and what he was going to do. He took the prescription to the Qian mansion, and as soon as he entered the door, he was full of smiles. Qian Manguan was quite polite. He knew that the old man in front of him was Fu Zhiyu¡¯s person, but he was also quite puzzled. Even if Fu Zhiyu sent a soldier, he would understand it; but why would he send a doctor? ¡°I¡¯m here to give a gift to the Qian family head,¡± Dr. Chen said with a smile, ¡°It is a big gift.¡± Qian Manguan looked surprised and said, ¡°No need to joke. I should be the one to give a gift to Wang Zhao. You see, this gift was presented to him, and Wang Zhao refused to accept it.¡± ¡°It is Master Qian who is joking,¡± Doctor Chen looked at him and said, ¡°Money is an external thing. You also know Wang Zhao never lacked these gold and silver treasures. Now, of course, it is life that is most valuable.¡± This was the real truth. Qian Manguan was already humbled to the extent that he knew that business was secondary; the most important thing was his son¡¯s life in Fu Zhiyu¡¯s hands. As soon as he heard this, his heart thudded, and the polite smile on his face faded by more than half. He said nervously: ¡°What does Wang Zhao mean¡­ mean by this? Please make it clear.¡± Chen was a long way from Jiangnan. Although the people had been released there, Qian Mingchong was still on the road. After all, he hadn¡¯t come back yet; did this mean that accidents could happen at any time? ¡°Master Qian doesn¡¯t have to be nervous,¡± Dr. Chen waved his hand. ¡°My master has always been broad-minded. Since he has said there is an understanding, he won¡¯t do anything. What I just said refers to Deng Qian¡¯s life.¡± At the mention of the Deng family, Qian Manguan¡¯s face became a little dramatic. Advertisements The Deng family and the Qian family used to be good friends, but that was a thing of the past. It is said that husband and wife are birds of the same forest, and they fly together in the face of great tribulations. To be sure, he and Deng Qian were young, and they had a lifelong friendship when they grew up, which was much deeper than the average couple¡¯s affection, but it was also the truth that not sharing the same burden was difficult. Qian Manguan previously felt that he was better off than Deng Qian. After all, he was still awake and could still run around to do something, but he didn¡¯t expect that the Deng family would still have a way of getting to him. About the coachman, at first, Qian Manguan wondered if Fu Zhiyu was putting on a show, first hitting him with a stick and then giving him a carrot to make him behave. But when they really confronted each other, Qian Manguan looked at the coachman¡¯s face and felt that it was inexplicably familiar. He followed his vague memory to track it down, and soon found the Deng family. You know, although Fu Zhiyu had already given those two letters, when the coachman planned to kidnap him, the letters were still in Yuan Jiangxing¡¯s hands and hadn¡¯t been delivered yet, and no one knew about them. Fortunately, nothing happened, but if that person really hurt Wang Zhao and identified the Qian family as the culprit, everything Qian Manguan had begged for would have gone down the drain. Every time he thought of this possibility, Qian Manguan¡¯s back would feel cold. But Deng Qian was indeed unconscious now, and Qian Manguan wondered in his heart whether other interested people had bribed this person and were just waiting for the rock to fall down, but a guess was a guess. Now Qian Manguan still felt uncomfortable when he thought of the Deng family, as if he had something in the back of his mind, sensing that something was not right. At that time, they were all in trouble, running around to fend for themselves. The Deng family¡¯s performance, although without a backbone, was somewhat too handicapped. But Qian Manguan still couldn¡¯t connect the dots. In this short period of time, several thoughts flashed through Qian Manguan¡¯s mind. ¡°My master told you before, but I guess you didn¡¯t take it to heart at that time,¡± Dr. Chen continued. ¡°My master didn¡¯t do it to Deng Qian. To be precise, he hadn¡¯t had time to do it. When he first heard about it, he was also very shocked.¡± Qian Manguan was taken aback. ¡°However, my master has always been benevolent, and he has to help people when he can. He is also very concerned about the affairs of the Deng family. He feels that this kind of chaos is not a good thing, and if it continues like that, it will make everyone panic.¡± Dr. Chen said, ¡°Fortunately, my master was very knowledgeable when he was in the palace. He knew that Deng Qian was poisoned with the soul-soothing poison from the Western Regions, and it took him a lot of money to buy this antidote from the outside.¡± Having said that, Dr. Chen finally took out the small package and let Qian Manguan take a look. ¡°He originally wanted to send it directly to the Deng family, but the incident a few days ago chilled my master¡¯s heart,¡± Dr. Chen said with a sad expression on his face, ¡°My master also knows about your confrontation with that person. The Deng family is unrepentant and acts so viciously; it really makes people angry.¡± Qian Manguan thought about it and realised that what was said was true. Regardless of whether Fu Zhiyu did it or not, he was now offering the antidote, indicating that he really wanted to save Deng Qian. ¡°Then you are¡­?¡± Qian Manguan said suspiciously, ¡°The matter of my Qian family has been resolved. No matter how His Highness decides, he should go to the Deng mansion.¡± ¡°His Highness has already decided,¡± Dr. Chen said, ¡°My master wants to give you this medicine.¡± ¡°Give it to me for what?¡± When Qian Manguan heard this, he felt ridiculous at first, but after a while, his expression changed. This was¡­ the medicine that could determine the life and death of the Deng family¡¯s patriarch. CH 78 Among the four major families in Jiangnan, no one could tell who was richer. Qian Manguan had never had an opportunity to control the life and death of another family, but he did now. No businessman is too scrupulous, and Qian Manguan considered himself to be a bottom-line profiteer, but he couldn¡¯t help but feel uneasy in the face of this. It was indeed a great gift, but it all depended on how he used it. The Qian family and the Deng family had always been good friends, not only because he and Deng Qian were childhood friends, but also because of their interests. Let¡¯s not talk about the intersection of the two businesses; in the case of the four companies with similar strengths, after the alliance, the effect of one and one against two was also obvious, and their united voices were indeed stronger. However, once Fu Zhiyu had demonstrated his power, the benefits of the alliance were greatly reduced. After all, no matter how big their alliance was, no matter how big they were, they were not as big as Fu Zhiyu. What happened before made Qian Manguan feel that no one in this world could be relied upon. No matter how good one¡¯s words were, they were useless. The result of his alliance with the Deng family was that he had fallen on his face, compared to the Lin family that had been left alone and was living as happily as ever. But he was still a little wary to face this. ¡°Why give it to me?¡± Qian Manguan said. He didn¡¯t dare to take it, with an obviously cautious look on his face, ¡°If Wang Zhao has this, he can ask the Deng family to do whatever he wants, right?¡± Dr. Chen smiled and said, ¡°Look, you underestimate Wang Zhao again. He was looking for this medicine all this time with the intention of saving people. Who knew that the Deng family would be so ignorant. But after all, the medicine was found and it is still necessary to save people. However, His Highness feels uncomfortable and doesn¡¯t plan to give it directly. His Highness is very satisfied with the Qian family. Although the trouble was unpleasant before, Master Qian was aware of his mistakes and corrected them. My master could see it and told me that at that time he didn¡¯t expect it to be such a big deal and made the Qian family¡¯s son suffer. Therefore, he would like to give this antidote to Master Qian. For one thing, the Qian family and the Deng family have always been good friends. With this thing handed over to you, it is justified for you to deliver it. He also knows that the Deng and Qian families have had some misunderstandings recently. With this medicine, he hopes that the previous disagreements of the two families will be written off. What His Highness means here is that the matter of the coachman will not be pursued anymore. Secondly, although it is necessary to save people, the Deng family should indeed suffer a little. This medicine wasn¡¯t obtained for nothing. Deng Qian¡¯s life is also worth a lot of money. My master doesn¡¯t want the Deng family¡¯s things, but the Qian family can make up for some losses.¡± At that time, Fu Zhiyu explained only a few words, and now most of what Dr. Chen said to Qian Manguan was his own play. Such a long passage of high-sounding words made Qian Manguan listen in a daze. Indeed, although his son was coming back, Qian Manguan couldn¡¯t help being in pain when he thought of the money he had lost. After all, the barbarians and Chen wouldn¡¯t refund his money. But when it came to the matter of settling the score with the Deng family, Qian Manguan couldn¡¯t let go even if he was told to. Advertisements The Deng family deliberately framed him, and even if it wasn¡¯t at the behest of Deng Qian, now he had learned of the family¡¯s sinister intentions. Dr. Chen paused for a while, giving some time for him to think, and then said, ¡°So, if Master Qian wants to think about it, I will leave this medicine to you. The rest will be left to the Qian family to decide.¡± Qian Manguan was not stupid either. In fact, the main meaning of this long passage was to tell him that he had to choose for himself. Option one, give the medicine directly, and after waking Deng Qian up, treat this as if nothing had happened. In the future, the two families would tuck in their tails and behave themselves, honestly making up for the losses of this period of time. Option two, take this medicine to knock down the Deng family. Anyway, Wang Zhao¡¯s opinion on the Deng family was much lighter than that of the Qian family. Although there were losses, the Deng family had hardly ever begged Fu Zhiyu and no one could tell if he knew whether there was something wrong. Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t want to make trouble anymore, but in this case relied on this thing to be the whip for the Deng family to make them behave. Qian Manguan knew that he was Fu Zhiyu¡¯s whip, and it depended on him whether he wanted to be or not. Do you want to break up with the Deng family at this point? Dr. Chen made his meaning very clear. After he finished speaking, he sat in his chair and drank tea slowly, letting Qian Manguan think. In the process of listening, Qian Manguan actually had already made a choice in his heart. Good birds choose good trees to live in, and it was very important for him to reverse Fu Zhiyu¡¯s impression of him. He didn¡¯t expect him to favour himself in the future, after all, no matter how good the Qian family was, it was not as close as the Yuan family. But at least in future Wang Zhao would stop picking fights whenever he was upset; no one could survive another fight with him. As for the Deng family, he was already kind enough to see that he could knock off a little money for the sake of their previous relationship. After all, businessmen are profiteers. ¡°Then I¡¯ll trouble you,¡± Qian Manguan had decided, and a smile appeared on his face. ¡°When the time comes, I will send someone to the medical centre to invite you.¡± As soon as Dr. Chen heard this, he knew what choice he had made. ¡°No trouble, no trouble,¡± he waved his hand. His business here was done and he was ready to leave, ¡°Then I will go first.¡± Qian Manguan personally sent him to the door, and at this moment, people came out carrying several boxes. ¡°I have sent these things to the door of Wang Zhao several times, and he didn¡¯t accept them. He was also angry before, and it was normal not to accept these gifts,¡± Qian Manguan gently took Dr. Chen¡¯s hand; he was obviously meeting him for the first time but treating him like an old friend, ¡°But this time you must accept it. Wang Zhao has clear rewards and punishments. Regardless of the past, there is Wang Zhao in Jiangnan, which is a great blessing for the people of Jiangnan.¡± Dr. Chen remembered what Fu Zhiyu said, so he refused a few times and then accepted it. Qian Manguan was also a smart person. He didn¡¯t give the gifts when he was inside. He had to give them when Dr. Chen walked out of the door. There were a lot of people who saw it. The outside world would soon know that Wang Zhao had accepted the Qian family¡¯s gift. This could at least show everyone that the Qian family¡¯s crisis was over, and also told some interested people in disguise that it was best not to make trouble at this time. Advertisements Dr. Chen shipped these boxes to Fu Zhiyu. Fu Zhiyu opened the boxes and took a look. Qian Manguan was quite serious. More than half of it was gold, silver and jewellery, and the rest were valuable things. ¡°I think there are still some medicinal materials in it. You can take them to the medical centre,¡± Fu Zhiyu said. ¡°You can also take this box of money. Originally, it was meant for the Qian family to subsidise you. You opened a medical centre and saved so many people. I didn¡¯t care about anything back then and I didn¡¯t ask about anything. Now that I think about it, I really shouldn¡¯t have ignored it.¡± Dr. Chen shook his head and said, ¡°What is Master talking about? I can save people like this because I have your support. When I fled from the capital at that time, I didn¡¯t bring much with me. At that time, you gave me the money to open the medical centre. After that, you asked Steward Zhou to send money every month. Otherwise, with the speed at which the medical centre is consuming money, I wouldn¡¯t have been able to last for long.¡± ¡°But it is still not enough,¡± Fu Zhiyu sighed, holding the document in his hand, ¡°This money is really a drop in the bucket for the entire Jiangnan.¡± Qian Manguan was generous, but even for Dr. Chen¡¯s medical centre it would barely be enough for half a year. ¡°Fortunately, the weather was good last year, there was no heavy rain, and there was no drought. The harvest in several cities was good, so this winter went well,¡± Fu Zhiyu continued, ¡°But in the long run, it still won¡¯t work.¡± He didn¡¯t want to use Qian Manguan¡¯s money for himself. Fu Zhiyu wasn¡¯t short of money. Not only did he not spend it, he was also preparing to put in more by himself. But how to spend the money was also a problem. Dr. Chen also knew that Fu Zhiyu wanted to do something big. ¡°Master, just take it easy,¡± he stroked his goatee with a very kind smile on his face, ¡°I believe in you.¡± Fu Zhiyu rubbed his brow, glanced at Dr. Chen and said, ¡°Everyone says they believe in me, but I¡¯m not sure what to do.¡± Faced with the current situation in Jiangnan that he had learned about, he was afraid that no amount of money would be enough. What¡¯s more, Fu Zhiyu knew that it was better to teach people to fish than to give them fish. Even if he gathered all the money in his family and the Yuan family, it would be useless to divide it equally. Not to mention that there would be just a tiny bit for everyone, sooner or later, the money would be spent. Equalisation was not the way to govern. ¡°It¡¯s just the beginning of spring, and this time is not difficult. Let me think about it again.¡±Fu Zhiyu muttered as if talking to himself, ¡°Taxes naturally can be reduced, but it¡¯s more important to open the flow-in than to cut the flow-out. It is necessary to find a way for many people to make a living, and it is also necessary to give them a way to rise.¡± The wish was very beautiful, but it was very complicated to realise. Not to mention anything else, he hadn¡¯t finished reading the key documents. Just looking at the documents wouldn¡¯t work either. He had to go to visit many places to take a look before he could make a good choice, otherwise everything would just be on paper. Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t plan so much for himself before. After he came to Jiangnan, he always lived one day at a time, often staying at home and spending the day doing nothing. Even if he went out occasionally, it was just to meet some people, such as Yuan Lu and the others, or if Yuan Wanyun was interested in something and pulled him out. To be honest, Yuan Wanyun was much more active than him. After she came here, she realised the dream she had casually talked about when she was a girl, and she was finally able to live her own life. Seeing that she couldn¡¯t pull out Fu Zhiyu, she followed Yuan Jiangwen¡¯s caravan out by herself. The places she went were all around Jiangnan, and there was no danger. She often brought gifts back to Fu Zhiyu, trying to lure Fu Zhiyu to go out with her. Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t want to spoil his mother¡¯s fun, so he followed a few times, but unlike Yuan Wanyun, who was in high spirits, he wasn¡¯t interested in anything he saw, and the beautiful scenery didn¡¯t attract much of his attention. Now that he decided to take over some of these things, Fu Zhiyu, who had been a salted fish for a long time, thought of everything that would come next, and felt a little pain in his skull. ¡°Do I have to work hard all my life, ah?¡± He said to himself, ¡°After a few years of rest, I still have to come back to get involved in all this.¡± Although he said so, he felt the enthusiasm flowing in his blood after a long time. This feeling made him feel that in fact, he still had some ambitions that he couldn¡¯t let go of, and it was useless to deceive himself. After Fu Zhiyu was reborn, he didn¡¯t want to fight for power and profit, but what was in front of him had nothing to do with fighting for power and profit. After all, he had been an emperor and had the conviction that his family was supposed to rule the country and the world. Before he died, he had many ambitious wishes about the world, even if he didn¡¯t realise them in the end. He didn¡¯t even have time to deal with disaster relief, which led to a catastrophe, so much so that he felt guilty about his position as emperor and didn¡¯t dare to plan anything. But the ideals he hadn¡¯t realised were beautiful in themselves, and once they were evoked, it was difficult to calm down. CH 79 Fu Zhiyu sent away Dr. Chen and stayed in the room to read the documents. Yuan Jiangxing was also there. He asked the soldiers under his command to pack up the two boxes of things for the medical centre and help carry them back, and then returned to the inner room quietly and asked, ¡°Were you serious just now about going to various places in Jiangnan?¡± ¡°Of course I was serious, is it possible to lie about this?¡± Fu Zhiyu looked up at him, ¡°When I finish this volume, I will leave the day after tomorrow, not going too far, just picking a village near Luanzhou. I don¡¯t plan to take many people. It is best for me to go alone, so I didn¡¯t tell Uncle. Otherwise, when the people see a huge group of people, they will be terrified. How can I see what I want to see then?¡± Yuan Jiangxing frowned, and before he could say the words ¡°No, it is too dangerous¡±, Fu Zhiyu was the first to continue: ¡°Uncle, don¡¯t worry about it, nothing will happen. I have decided, that¡¯s it, we won¡¯t discuss this anymore.¡± Yuan Jiangxing was not the kind of parent who protected his children too much. After all, he was a general and he was not too stubborn. Seeing Fu Zhiyu say that, he didn¡¯t object again. He just poured Fu Zhiyu a cup of hot tea, patted him on the shoulder and said, ¡°Don¡¯t tire yourself out too much, take your time.¡± Fu Zhiyu went back to look at his documents again, nodding to indicate that he knew. He was indeed thirsty and took a sip of the tea that Yuan Jiangxing poured for him. ¡°What is this?¡± He took a sip and frowned, ¡°So bitter.¡± Yuan Jiangxing took a sip himself and said, ¡°It¡¯s Ujeon, a famous tea in Jiangnan. You didn¡¯t drink much of it, so you might not be used to it. This tea is slightly bitter in the mouth, but it has a long sweet aftertaste and a rich fragrance. I think you are too tired, so I ordered it for you. What, don¡¯t you like it? I¡¯ll make you something else next time.¡± After a while, Fu Zhiyu felt the sweetness on the tip of his tongue, and the fragrance of tea also came out, but when he heard his uncle¡¯s words, he felt something was wrong. He looked at the tea in his hand with a puzzled expression: ¡°I have drunk Ujeon before, but it didn¡¯t taste like this. Does the taste of different grades of tea differ so much?¡± He remembered that the servant who delivered the tea last time said that it was the top one, and there was only the last bit left. Yuan Jiangxing was also puzzled: ¡°This is the top one. Jiangwen gave it to me. Which one do you drink?¡± Fu Zhiyu stopped talking. Although he usually drank tea, he was not addicted to it. Unlike Yuan Jiangxing, he didn¡¯t know what was the top or not. But even if he wasn¡¯t too fond of tea, he knew in his heart that the cup of Ujeon in front of him was not the same as the ¡°Ujeon¡± he drank last time. ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± Yuan Jiangxing saw that his face wasn¡¯t right, ¡°What¡¯s the problem?¡± Fu Zhiyu shook his head and didn¡¯t say anything right away. Advertisements This matter could be big or small. After all, this tea was just something to drink. Whether a servant who delivered the tea was talking nonsense, passing the tea for a good thing, or deliberately served it to him, it was difficult to tell clearly. But after drinking the pot of tea at that time, he was indeed much more comfortable. Fu Zhiyu recalled what happened at the time, and then remembered the servant¡¯s voice and back, and suddenly guessed something. ¡°It¡¯s okay,¡± Fu Zhiyu said to Yuan Jiangxing, ¡°I remembered it wrong.¡± He put down the teacup and never drank the tea again, but after Yuan Jiangxing left and the servant came to deliver the hot tea again, Fu Zhiyu stared at him for a while, and then asked, ¡°Since I came here, have you always been responsible for delivering the tea?¡± The servant didn¡¯t expect his master to talk to him, so he knelt down in fright, almost knocking over the teapot, and said tremblingly: ¡°Your Highness, this slave¡¯s old mother was sick some time ago, and I had no choice but to rush to help her. This slave only came back the day before yesterday. There are five tea servants in this house, and they usually take turns on duty.¡± ¡°What kind of tea do you usually make for me?¡± ¡°Your Highness, the tea brewed is usually good Biluochun. If any of the lords need it, there are also teas such as Pu¡¯er, Longjing, and Yunwu in the mansion, all according to your preferences.¡± ¡°Ujeon¡­ is there any?¡± ¡°Your Highness, there is no such thing in the house. The former governor didn¡¯t like this tea, so we didn¡¯t prepare it.¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine,¡± Fu Zhiyu saw him frightened so much that his voice was trembling. He actually had a guess in his heart and he just confirmed it. He also took a closer look at the servant¡¯s figure and appearance, which was very different from the previous one. ¡°You can leave, I¡¯m just asking casually.¡± When the servant heard this, he breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed that the master wasn¡¯t going to blame him, so he quickly retreated. Meanwhile, Dr. Chen brought Qian Manguan¡¯s gift from Fu Zhiyu to his medical centre. He didn¡¯t intend to avoid suspicion, taking a carriage and putting the box directly in the hall of the medical centre where the people who came and went could see it. The next day, the medical centre opened its doors as usual, but a large tent was erected in front of the door. Advertisements ¡°Wang Zhao is benevolent and has set up a medicine tent in our medical centre to administer medicine for free for three consecutive days. All men, women and children can come to get it!¡± In early spring, the weather was still cold, and it was easy to get wind chills and catch a cold; that was the case with most of the patients treated in the medical centre at that time. Now that a medicine tent was set up, patients could come to receive medicine free of charge. Even those who were not sick or suffering could come to the medicine tent to ask for a bowl of hot ginger soup. If children came, the medical staff would also give them a piece of sweet ginger candy; the elderly would have ginseng tea to replenish their vitality, and those who were in trouble and starving would be also given rice porridge. At the beginning, the scene was a bit chaotic because of too many people, but the medicine centre saved a lot of people, and people who lived nearby came to help maintain order, so the afternoon was much better. ¡°Come one by one, don¡¯t worry, there is something for everyone.¡± ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter if you don¡¯t get it today, there will be more tomorrow.¡± ¡°¡­¡­¡± After hearing about this, Fu Zhiyu felt that it was well done. He originally planned to go out of Luanzhou today, but in the morning he deliberately went around to the shop in front of the medical centre to take a look. ¡°The medicinal materials for wind chill medicine are limited. The amount has been set and three days is just right. If there is more, it will be unsustainable,¡± Dr. Chen said to him, ¡°But ginger soup and rice porridge can be distributed again.¡± Fu Zhiyu had no objection: ¡°Do as you wish. If you don¡¯t have enough money, just tell me.¡± ¡°Enough is enough, the Qian family gave a lot,¡± Dr. Chen said. ¡°In a few days, when the weather gets hot, we can do it again and distribute some heat-relieving tea or something.¡± When Fu Zhiyu left the medical centre, he opened the curtain and took a look. It was still early, but the queue was already very long. Although some people came with the idea of being cheap and taking advantage to get something for free, there were also a lot of ragged people in the queue. A bowl of ginger soup and a bowl of rice porridge were not worth much money, but for many people, it was already a rare gift. When Qian Manguan received the news, his impression of Fu Zhiyu was refreshed again. The four families had all done this kind of thing, and they were not that unkind to the poor, even if they were just making a name for themselves. But Qian Manguan knew very well that this kind of thing could only treat the symptoms but not the root of the problem. But he also knew that after so long, Fu Zhiyu hadn¡¯t found a new governor of Luanzhou. Instead, he ran to the government office every day to look at the documents. With these actions, it was obvious what he was going to do. The King of Jiangnan, who didn¡¯t care about anything, probably no longer existed. Thinking of this, Qian Manguan sighed and went to clean up the mess in his hands. As for the Deng family¡¯s affairs, Qian Manguan moved faster than anyone else. As soon as he got the medicine, he went to the Deng mansion immediately. Since he had decided to do it, Qian Manguan wasn¡¯t going to be polite. Not only did he intend to extort, he intended to extort a lot. ¡°Your Deng family is ruthless and unrighteous. I have been running around and working hard, and you stabbed me in the back!¡± Qian Manguan was full of confidence. Deng Qian wasn¡¯t here now, and facing this family, he naturally had a crushing combat effectiveness. To put it bluntly, the family couldn¡¯t lift their heads, ¡°Since that¡¯s the case, then we¡¯ll settle accounts between us brothers. You¡¯ll have to pay for all the effort I¡¯ve put into this antidote!¡± Deng Jinghe sat in the back with his head lowered and said nothing. As a concubine¡¯s son, he couldn¡¯t be blamed for not standing in the front at this time. How could this happen? With a gloomy expression on his face, he glanced at Qian Manguan who was bossing around in the hall, and then remembered that person again. Deng Jinghe actually didn¡¯t see Fu Zhiyu much. He saw him in Yuan Lu¡¯s shop at first, and during the sacrifice at second, but he remembered him deeply every time. The first time he saw Fu Zhiyu, he felt that this King of Jiangnan was a vase (beautiful but without abilities). He would like to lock him at home and raise him well so that he belonged only to him, without letting others see him. But Fu Zhiyu¡¯s status was too high and this kind of idea was too difficult for Deng Jinghe to realise now. At that time, Deng Jinghe had already known about the Deng family¡¯s actions during the sacrifice. He even deliberately contributed to the situation, hoping that if this person fell from a high place, one day, sooner or later, he would really fall into his own hands and the idea he had when he first met Fu Zhiyu might be realised. But what he didn¡¯t expect was that Fu Zhiyu was hiding too many tricks in his sleeve. Not to mention what had happened earlier, but this matter was in front of him now. Where did Qian Manguan get the medicine? It was clearly from Fu Zhiyu. Deng Jinghe deliberately encouraged Deng Lang to arrange the coachman¡¯s business. Deng Lang was Deng Qian¡¯s son from the main wife, but he had been protected too well since he was a child and couldn¡¯t handle these things at all. He also wanted to follow Qian Manguan to beg Fu Zhiyu, but Deng Jinghe persuaded him not to go, saying that the Qian family¡¯s lesson showed them that it was useless to beg. Next, he sent the coachman to Deng Lang and taught him to kidnap Fu Zhiyu. From beginning to end, Deng Jinghe never showed up, and Deng Lang didn¡¯t expect his most trusted steward to be Deng Jinghe¡¯s person a long time ago. Deng Lang thought for a while and decided that this was the right thing to do. If the kidnapping was successful, Wang Zhao would naturally hand over the antidote in order to save his life. When his father woke up, everything would be fine. In case it didn¡¯t work, the coachman also promised that he would say that it was done by the Qian family and had nothing to do with the Deng family. It could be said that the plan was foolproof. But Deng Jinghe knew that the probability of success in this kidnapping was basically zero. Deng Lang didn¡¯t know about the incense burner incident but Deng Jinghe knew. He knew that it was basically a pipe dream to tie Fu Zhiyu up with the coachman¡¯s three-legged cat kung fu. Deng Jinghe just didn¡¯t want Deng Qian to wake up. He¡¯d better stay asleep until he died. Deng Lang was not someone to be afraid of. As long as Deng Jinghe used some little tricks, this huge family business would be rightfully delivered to him sooner or later. He liked to hear about the escape of the shopkeeper and the trouble in the backyard. It was nothing to lose some money. Deng Lang couldn¡¯t handle it, so Deng Jinghe handled all of this. His right to speak in the family naturally expanded a lot. CH 80 From Deng Jinghe¡¯s point of view, the plan was really foolproof. Even if Fu Zhiyu got angry, there was the framed Qian family in front of him to block his anger. If it didn¡¯t help, the trail would lead to Deng Lang, and he would hand Deng Lang over. He liked it even more, he had to deal with Deng Lang anyway. It was not that all the Deng family was required to be buried. One Deng Qian and one Deng Lang were enough. Deng Jinghe even took the time to carefully inquire about what Fu Zhiyu did when he was in the capital, trying to understand his mentality, and he also knew that this person wasn¡¯t someone who would kill indiscriminately. As for the losses in the process, it was actually nothing. It was always necessary to sacrifice something to achieve something. Deng Jinghe had long been prepared. When the Deng family was in his own hands, the money would be earned back sooner or later. Who knew Fu Zhiyu would do this? He was obviously attacked by the coachman. Although he didn¡¯t succeed, Fu Zhiyu suddenly stopped being angry. He looked like he didn¡¯t bother to care about their shit. Not only did the Qian family get the letters from him, but he really took out the antidote and actually gave it to Qian Manguan? Deng Qian and Qian Manguan were good friends. The coachman incident was to make Qian Manguan disappointed in the Deng family, and it also eliminated the possibility of Qian Manguan lending a helping hand, which could be described as killing two birds with one stone. But for now, none of Deng Jinghe¡¯s ideas had come true, they all fell flat. He couldn¡¯t predict Fu Zhiyu¡¯s actions at all. This person didn¡¯t play cards according to common sense and avoided all the pits. With a slight change, all his careful plans had fallen through. Although Qian Manguan was making a scene now, he had the antidote in his hand, and he didn¡¯t really want Deng Qian¡¯s life. As long as the Deng family came up with the money, they could really get the antidote. As soon as Deng Qian woke up, Deng Jinghe¡¯s right to speak and initiative would be nothing, and he would have to start all over again. Now he was gritting his teeth, looking at Qian Manguan, who was still bossing around in the hall. Deng Lang didn¡¯t dare to speak when he heard Qian Manguan mention the coachman. He was shaking all over. When he heard the end, he simply knelt directly in front of Qian Manguan. ¡°It was all my idea. If Uncle Qian is angry, come towards me. My mother has never been involved in these things, let alone my father. He has been sick in bed for a long time and can¡¯t wake up. It was all because of my momentary obsession. I am willing to compensate for the loss of the Qian family. I only ask Uncle Qian to remember the affection of the past and save my father¡¯s life.¡± After that, he kowtowed to Qian Manguan. Advertisements Anyway, it was the child who had grown up in front of his eyes. Qian Manguan looked at him and couldn¡¯t bear to do anything. He opened his mouth and didn¡¯t say anything. Seeing her son like this, the lady of the Deng family threw herself down beside him and lay collapsed, crying and choking. Even the old lady who was sitting in the front stood up tremblingly, not knowing what to do. After all, she was an old woman. Qian Manguan gave a sign, and someone beside him went to help the old lady, not letting her do anything more. Qian Manguan looked at Deng Lang, then at the messy hall, and sighed. The situation when the Deng family entirely relied on Deng Qian to hold on was really dangerous. He had warned Deng Qian about it many times before, but it was useless. Deng Lang was raised to be like this, unable to accomplish anything but liable to fail. It was not that the thing with the coachman couldn¡¯t be done, the business world was like this. It was nothing to take risks. Seeking wisdom and wealth in danger was a famous saying, but it was not tantamount to recklessness. When Deng Lang did this, he neither carefully considered whether it could be successful, nor how to deal with the aftermath. He relied too much on Deng Qian, always thinking that as long as his father woke up, everything would be fine. How could such a child inherit the Deng family¡¯s business in the future? ¡°Get up,¡± Qian Manguan rubbed his brow, ¡°Forget it, I only need the shops in Yongzhou on this list, and I don¡¯t want the rest. Just¡­ paying back the affection of so many years.¡± Deng Lang heard this and breathed a sigh of relief. Although the shops in Yongzhou made money, they were not as important as Deng Qian¡¯s life. ¡°You go to Yongzhou with my people to do the handover now, and I will call someone to save Deng Qian,¡± Qian Manguan said. He gave in, but now his tone became tougher, ¡°Don¡¯t play tricks. You need to apply the needles several times with the medicine. The medicine is a three-day amount, not a single time less, otherwise Deng Qian will die.¡± ¡°Okay, okay,¡± Deng Lang was overjoyed and nodded quickly, ¡°As long as my father can wake up, I¡¯ll do anything.¡± He followed Qian Manguan¡¯s people out. Deng Qian¡¯s wife in the hall was still crying. Deng Jinghe didn¡¯t speak from beginning to end. At this time, he felt that Qian Manguan¡¯s eyes passed the many people in front of him and looked directly at him. Deng Jinghe avoided his gaze. Qian Manguan looked at him for a while, but didn¡¯t say a word, just turned around and went out. He waited in front of the mansion until Deng Lang came out with a small box. ¡°It is the title deed to the shops,¡± He was afraid that Qian Manguan would change his mind, so he showed it to him directly. ¡°There are some long-term workers in the shops who have signed the deed of sale. They are all included, nothing is missing. I¡¯m bringing the family seal to go to the shops to hand them over. At that time, Uncle Qian can use those people if he wants to use them, or not.¡± Qian Manguan took a look, then waved his hand, told him to put it away, and said, ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± Advertisements Deng Lang got into the carriage, and Qian Manguan also sat in together with him, but didn¡¯t set off immediately. ¡°Who is guarding Deng Qian now that he is unconscious?¡± ¡°Uncle Qian, don¡¯t worry,¡± Deng Lang said. ¡°Grandma is afraid that someone will harm him, so the courtyard is surrounded by martial artists. Only a few of us can enter, and those concubines are not allowed to approach him.¡± The old lady of the Deng family had seen some of the world and had some skills. After Qian Manguan heard it, he didn¡¯t say anything anymore, so the carriage set off and headed towards Yongzhou. It didn¡¯t take long for Qian Manguan to ask him again: ¡°Deng Jinghe¡­ what has he been doing recently?¡± Hearing the name, Deng Lang frowned obviously, as if very unhappy. ¡°This family doesn¡¯t have his share. I heard that he got a new caravan outside and made some money. It was just that he didn¡¯t succeed much. My father has never looked up to him.¡± Deng Lang didn¡¯t seem to take Deng Jinghe seriously at all. ¡°Recently, my father had an accident, and he didn¡¯t care much about it. Really an unfilial bastard!¡± Deng Jinghe going out to make money by himself was something Qian Manguan knew, but he didn¡¯t win over Yuan Lu on the Southern Xinjiang jade line. Although his other deals were successful, they were not enough for the Deng family to pay attention to him. When the business had developed to the point where all the ways to make money were divided up, leaving little room to make a lot of money, one had to put a lot of effort into developing new ways, and this was much more difficult, so Deng Qian didn¡¯t take Deng Jinghe to heart. Qian Manguan twisted the beads in his hand and said, ¡°The last time I came to the Deng mansion, he came out to receive me.¡± ¡°He didn¡¯t neglect you, did he?¡± Deng Lang heard Qian Manguan¡¯s words and thought he was asking for an explanation, so he quickly added, ¡°At that time, the old lady hadn¡¯t slept for several days because of this incident, and she couldn¡¯t hold on and fainted. My mother was praying in the Buddha hall and I took the steward outside to deal with emergencies. Coincidentally, you came here at that time, and only he happened to hear the commotion to come out.¡± Was it really a coincidence? Qian Manguan felt otherwise, but he wasn¡¯t Deng Lang¡¯s father. Deng Qian taught him like this, it was his own problem. He had already warned this youngster enough, and if he failed in the future, it would be none of his business. Yongzhou wasn¡¯t too far from Luanzhou, but after this round trip and the handover, it was already late at night when they returned to Luanzhou City. Qian Manguan was in a better mood with the pile of contracts. He looked at Deng Lang, who was tired and still in high spirits, and finally reminded him: ¡°Be careful in the future, think twice before doing things. Jiangnan will never be like before again. Learn from your mistakes, you will never go wrong if you restrain yourself in the future. If we hadn¡¯t messed with Fu Zhiyu, nothing would have happened.¡± Deng Lang suffered several losses from Fu Zhiyu and didn¡¯t dare to look down on him. He nodded and said that he had taken note of it. ¡°Go back,¡± Qian Man said, ¡°From now on, our two families will be like this, no mention of the so-called affection. The days in Jiangnan will change. To be able to persevere will be more important than anything.¡± After he said this, regardless of whether Deng Lang heard these words or not, he turned around and left. Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t care about this anymore. The Deng and Qian families were now a thing of the past in his eyes. He came to a village under Luanzhou alone today, wearing ordinary clothes. ¡°It is no use for you to change your clothes,¡± Steward Zhou reminded him when he saw him go out like this, ¡°Although it¡¯s a private visit, your face and hands look like those of a well-bred gentleman, so no matter how you dress up you look different from ordinary people.¡± ¡°it¡¯s fine, it¡¯s fine,¡± Fu Zhiyu waved his hand, ¡°as long as I don¡¯t make them too nervous. I¡¯m not going undercover, I¡¯m just going to see what¡¯s going on.¡± He didn¡¯t take a carriage and rode a horse instead. He planned to pretend to be a passerby to ask for a sip of water to see how ordinary people were doing. But he didn¡¯t expect that in the first house on the side of the road where he stopped he would be recognised straight away. Fu Zhiyu saw this small house at the entrance of the village, surrounded by a fence, with a few chickens in the yard. Someone happened to be feeding the chickens there, a middle-aged man by the look of his back, dressed very simply, scattering the rice bran for the chickens on the ground bit by bit. Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t plan to knock on the door yet. He just stood there and looked around, but as if he felt something or heard something, the man glanced back. ¡°¡­Wang Zhao?¡± He stared at Fu Zhiyu¡¯s face for a while, hesitated a little, and then called his title. Fu Zhiyu was a little puzzled. Although he didn¡¯t disguise himself much, it seemed strange to be recognised so quickly. He didn¡¯t go out much in Jiangnan, right? The man glanced at him a few more times, as if making sure, and then bowed to Fu Zhiyu in a formal manner. Unlike the kowtowing of ordinary people, his salute was very standard and should have been specially studied. Was he lucky or unlucky to have met someone so different the first time he came out? CH 81 ¡°Get up,¡± Fu Zhiyu said, also looking at the man carefully, ¡°You have good eyesight, how did you recognise me?¡± After the man got up, he saw that Fu Zhiyu was very puzzled, so he took the initiative to explain: ¡°Some time ago, during the sacrifice, this humble one went to join the fun and was fortunate enough to meet Wang Zhao. Wang Zhao was an unforgettable sight.¡± Fu Zhiyu glanced at him suspiciously, only to feel that things didn¡¯t seem that simple. Just rely on the distant glance during the ritual? ¡°Of course, with this alone, I naturally wouldn¡¯t be able to recognise Wang Zhao at a glance,¡± the man continued. He lowered his head very modestly and explained, ¡°I was studying in the capital before, blessed to be the student of Grand Master Xu. In the Fengyue House, I have seen Wang Zhao many times, but Wang Zhao can¡¯t remember this humble one.¡± Grand Master Xu was Fu Zhiyu¡¯s teacher. The students he accepted were not simple. Even if they couldn¡¯t reach Shen Yang¡¯s level, they were rare talents. How could the man end up here? ¡°Raise your head and show me.¡± Fu Zhiyu had a good memory. He looked at that face. Although it had changed a lot with many vicissitudes of life, he did have some impression. ¡°You are¡­¡± Fu Zhiyu tried to recall the person¡¯s name, but couldn¡¯t get it for a while. Before Fu Zhiyu remembered, the man reported his name: ¡°Zhang Lin.¡± When he said the name, Fu Zhiyu remembered. He was not an ordinary student. He had been in the class of successful candidates for the imperial examination, in the same class as Shen Yang, ranking 35th. In his previous life Fu Zhiyu handled the imperial examination. When the list was released, he had written Zhang Lin¡¯s name himself. Although there were fraud cases on both occasions, they didn¡¯t affect Zhang Lin. But Fu Zhiyu remembered that after the imperial examination, he followed Prime Minister Xue. Now everyone knew what happened to Prime Minister Xue. In short, Zhang Lin was on the wrong team. There was also a reason why Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t remember him well. Although Zhang Lin followed Prime Minister Xue, he didn¡¯t have time to do anything. He was still in the training stage when everything collapsed. Although the fire at the city gate affected the fish in the pool, it¡­ wouldn¡¯t be enough to make him fall into such a situation? ¡°Wang Zhao remembers?¡± ¡°Why are you here?¡± Fu Zhiyu looked at him up and down, wondering, ¡°Is something wrong in the capital?¡± Zhang Lin shook his head and said, ¡°There is nothing wrong in the capital. In fact, when Prime Minister Xue had an accident, this humble one was not affected by it. Besides, the new emperor was kind and didn¡¯t kill people, but after all, I had no backer. Because of the past, colleagues also ostracised me. Once a major incident happened, the guarded library accidentally caught fire, this humble one was easily pushed out to take the blame. Fortunately, Grand Master Xu still remembered the old feelings and begged for me, otherwise I wouldn¡¯t even be able to keep my life. After several transfers, I came to Jiangnan, and now I have opened a private school in this village to teach children to read and write, and I¡¯m doing well.¡± Advertisements Although Zhang Lin said this, Fu Zhiyu took another look at him. According to his age, he was actually just a few years older than Fu Zhiyu, but at first glance, Fu Zhiyu subconsciously recognised him as a middle-aged man. The hardships of his life could be seen. When Zhang Lin said this, he had already stepped forward a little more and asked Fu Zhiyu, ¡°This place is remote and there are not many villagers, is Wang Zhao here for¡­?¡± After all, Fu Zhiyu was not familiar with this man, and Zhang Lin was not an ordinary person. Fu Zhiyu couldn¡¯t judge his character by the first look alone, so he didn¡¯t explain the reason for his visit at first. ¡°Wang Zhao has a noble status, he can be recognised as different from ordinary people at a glance. The people here are already a bit wary of strangers, let alone someone like you. I¡¯m afraid that they won¡¯t dare to say a word, not to mention to strike up a conversation.¡± Zhang Lin added, ¡°If you have any orders, please just say so.¡± Fu Zhiyu still hesitated. After thinking for a while, he asked, ¡°Can I go in and have a look?¡± ¡°Naturally.¡± Zhang Lin¡¯s house looked no different from that of ordinary people from the outside. There were chickens and ducks in the yard and farming tools in front of the house. But it was different when Fu Zhiyu entered the house. It still looked like a place where a scholar lived. Although it was very simple, there were a lot of books on the small shelf on the other side of the bed, neatly arranged, and they seemed to be very cherished. The room was very small, but there was also a desk in the corner. The brush, ink, paper and inkstone were all together, and it looked like Zhang Lin wrote a lot. But apart from these things, the rest was like a house of an ordinary family. Fu Zhiyu also took a look at the stove. The rice bowl was half filled, but there was hardly any meat. There was only a little salt for seasoning on the stove. Fu Zhiyu looked around and saw no oil. Zhang Lin watched his movements and probably already guessed what Fu Zhiyu was here for. He had been an official and had seen private visits before. He also took the initiative to explain: ¡°The money is used to buy paper, brushes and books. I don¡¯t care about food and drink, I kept everything simple. In fact, life in the village is not bad.¡± After learning more, Fu Zhiyu realised that Zhang Lin¡¯s private school didn¡¯t charge any money; most of the villagers here didn¡¯t have any extra money, let alone to pay for their children to study. The rice in the rice bowl was the reward for teaching children, and the people in the village took the initiative to give it. As for the money for living, that was earned by Zhang Lin himself. He could write quite well, so he copied books for rich families and earned more than the usual farmers. As far as his shelf of books was concerned, ordinary people couldn¡¯t afford it. ¡°This village is called Heshun Village. It has been farming for generations. It is a very ordinary village in Jiangnan,¡± Zhang Lin said. ¡°You rely on the weather to eat, and you can¡¯t save a few coins in a year. Before this humble one came here, the children here couldn¡¯t touch books at all. In the long run, they were buried deep in the fields, illiterate. Poor families can¡¯t produce noble children, so they have to go on like this from generation to generation. If Wang Zhao is interested, this humble one is willing to take you to see it.¡± Fu Zhiyu finally nodded. Advertisements What Zhang Lin said before wasn¡¯t a lie. If he went to the villagers by himself, the villagers wouldn¡¯t dare to talk to him at all. They couldn¡¯t wait to get as far away from him as possible. Looking at him was like looking at someone from another world. Although the clothes that Steward Zhou found for him were really ordinary clothes, they were also new clothes, and they were a complete set. Average farmers usually had to work and were sweaty all over, so they wore the clothes that were available, not as neat as he was. Besides, Fu Zhiyu¡¯s face and figure were also very different from ordinary people in common clothes. But the villagers respected Zhang Lin very much. He was a ¡°Master¡± and ¡°Teacher¡±. Here, a person who had studied and could read was really precious. What¡¯s more, he was teaching children to read practically for free, and he was almost worshipped by the villagers as an immortal. Zhang Lin¡¯s daily life was very simple. He copied books in the morning to make money, and started classes in the school in the afternoon. If the weather was really bad, he would take a day off. Fu Zhiyu also went to the school with him in the afternoon to take a look. It was said to be a school, but it was actually a place vacated by the temple in the village. There were no extra houses in the village. There were a few tables, chairs and stools in it, but each one was polished and shiny. The children studied under the gaze of the statues in the temple. Not only did they learn to recognise words and learn poetry, Zhang Lin also taught practical arithmetic, and even practical classes to teach children some accounting. Fu Zhiyu looked at these and commented: ¡°You know a lot.¡± ¡°Not everyone is fit to be a scholar, but with these skills, it is better to be a bookkeeper than to dig in the ground,¡± Zhang Lin said, ¡°That¡¯s all I can do. It was just that I didn¡¯t expect you to come. Wang Zhao can do more than I can.¡± Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t know what to say. He looked at this man¡¯s hopeful gaze and only felt that the steps he had planned had to go ahead. Heshun Village could already be considered a good village, after all, it was lucky to land a person like Zhang Lin. After he showed the way, Fu Zhiyu went to several other villages that were poorer than Heshun and farther away from Luanzhou. It took a while to get a basic look. ¡°There are huge differences across Jiangnan,¡± he said to Yuan Jiangxing after he came back. ¡°Although change cannot be achieved in a day, I should always make a start.¡± Where exactly to start, however, Fu Zhiyu was cautious. He knew a lot of things, including what he had learned from the Lord God¡¯s space, but after all, he hadn¡¯t actually done anything yet, so for now, it was just a paper exercise. He actually felt a bit helpless. After returning from various villages, Fu Zhiyu had nightmares for a long time. It was the feeling of powerlessness he had in his previous life when he heard the officials below report on the situation of the victims that recurred over and over again, a scene that always reminded him that he had been a failure of a ruler. Tonight he woke up from his dream in the middle of the night again, covered in sweat. He couldn¡¯t sleep for a while, so he got up and poured himself a glass of water. The nightmare had always been there, and Fu Zhiyu had always hypnotised himself that it was over, and that if he didn¡¯t touch it, he would be fine. In fact, he was not. To truly make the nightmare go away, something new was needed to cover it. Fu Zhiyu took a breath. After taking a sip of water, he calmed down a lot. At this time, he smelled a very faint fragrance. The source of this fragrance was the incense burner in the room. Steward Zhou would usually order some soothing incense and the like. This smell was soothing incense, but it smelled different from the previous one. It seemed to be a little stronger, and the fragrance was also more elegant. If it weren¡¯t for Fu Zhiyu¡¯s special physique and keen sensitivity, other people wouldn¡¯t be able to feel this subtle difference. He couldn¡¯t wake the others up in the middle of the night, but the next morning he took the incense ash from the incense burner and showed it to Dr. Chen. After taking a closer look at it, Dr. Chen said, ¡°This is a soothing incense, but it is not quite the same as the one in your mansion. Although the incense in your mansion is already the most expensive on the market, there are actually better ones, but the quantity is very small, and they are not sold in the market. Only the imperial palace has them. And even in the palace, there may be only two boxes, very precious. The effect of soothing the nerves is said to be very good. Aren¡¯t you having trouble sleeping these days? It would be good to burn some of this.¡± Fu Zhiyu rubbed his brow. Dr. Chen didn¡¯t understand the situation; he thought the incense was sent by the Yuan family, and it wasn¡¯t harmful, only beneficial. He didn¡¯t say anything more about it; instead, he talked to Fu Zhiyu about the Deng family, as an explanation of the previous events. ¡°Deng Qian has already woken up, but now he is still not suitable for any big moves, and he is still recovering,¡± Dr. Chen said. ¡°He is actually quite interesting. He doesn¡¯t have any grudges about being ripped-off by the Qian family, at least on the surface. After waking up and understanding everything, the first time he went out, he went to Qian Manguan to thank him.¡± CH 82 Fu Zhiyu also knew about this, but he didn¡¯t think there was anything wrong with it: ¡°After all, Qian Manguan didn¡¯t let him down. He still had some conscience. The few shops he wanted were really nothing. Deng Qian listened to all these things, including the coachman¡¯s matter. He knew in his heart that in this way, the Deng family still was indebted to the Qian family, and he didn¡¯t regard that matter as throwing stones at somebody who fell down a well.¡± ¡°Then¡­ are you really going to let these two families off the hook like that?¡± ¡°It was not a big deal at all. I just wanted to teach them to be obedient and not to be too lawless,¡± Fu Zhiyu waved his hand, ¡°The whole of Jiangnan still depends on them. Besides, I will also need them in the future. The future is long, you need to use both a carrot and a stick.¡± He gave Qian Manguan the medicine to test the hearts of these two families. This seemed to have worked out well. Although the Deng and Qian families had harmed each other, it was just because they were driven by profit for a while; it did not mean that they were full of evil. If Qian Manguan really pushed too far at that time, it would actually be bad. After Fu Zhiyu finished speaking, he put away the incense ash casually. He muttered in a low voice while Dr. Chen couldn¡¯t hear him: ¡°¡­ It¡¯s getting too much.¡± Deng Qian should have rested well during this time, and when Fu Zhiyu came home today, he even ran into him. His face looked okay, just a little pale, but it was a lot better than being unconscious. ¡°Wang Zhao,¡± he came forward as soon as he saw Fu Zhiyu¡¯s carriage, bowed and saluted, ¡°This humble one came here to thank you.¡± Fu Zhiyu lifted the curtain and glanced at him: ¡°Thank for what?¡± ¡°The Qian family told me that the antidote was given by Wang Zhao,¡± Deng Qian said. ¡°My dog son was naive and reckless, and conflicted with Wang Zhao, but I hope that Wang Zhao won¡¯t remember the sins of the young one. It really made me ashamed of the Deng family, so I came here to thank you and plead guilty.¡± Fu Zhiyu got out of the carriage; his tone still lukewarm: ¡°To be honest, I didn¡¯t give you the poison, but it did start with me. Doesn¡¯t the Deng family resent me?¡± ¡°I dare not talk about resentment,¡± Deng Qian lowered his head, ¡°It was my Deng family who was wrong first.¡± ¡°Be careful,¡± Fu Zhiyu said. ¡°If you play any tricks in the future, it won¡¯t end like this.¡± After he said this, he went in, ignoring Deng Qian. Deng Qian, who stayed in place, breathed a sigh of relief. Advertisements Later, Fu Zhiyu heard the news that after Deng Qian went back, he took out the family rules to whip his precious son Deng Lang until he had injuries all over his body. Now he was still recuperating. ¡°Not very smart indeed,¡± Fu Zhiyu also commented after hearing this, ¡°If it were me, I would have beat him up too. If the Deng family business is handed over to him in the future, I think the four big merchants will become three big merchants.¡± The plot had changed drastically now. Deng Jinghe, who had already been shining during this period of time, didn¡¯t move, but Yuan Lu gloated again, mentioning that his arm was broken and he was recuperating now. He hadn¡¯t been out for several days. ¡°He said he fell by accident, but I think he was beaten,¡± Yuan Lu said, ¡°Such villains deserve to be beaten by everyone!¡± A few days later, the Deng and Qian families followed the example of the medicine centre and set up porridge tents in several other cities in Jiangnan, still in the name of Fu Zhiyu, for several days in a row, making a big splash. Many people outside actually didn¡¯t understand what was going on. Although the Deng and Qian families couldn¡¯t hide their secrets completely before, there were only a few people who were fully aware of it and they were limited to the small circle of merchants. These days, the channels for information transmission were very limited. If it weren¡¯t for interested people, they wouldn¡¯t know about the dark undercurrents at all. But the matter of giving porridge was a good thing. During this time, Fu Zhiyu¡¯s reputation outside was also very good, to the extent that everyone praised the benevolence of Wang Zhao, which made the implementation of Fu Zhiyu¡¯s plans a lot smoother, at least laying a good foundation for them. Yuan Jiangwen already knew what Fu Zhiyu was going to do in Jiangnan. He had already approached Fu Zhiyu several times and told him what he had in mind. ¡°You are energetic now, and your uncle is very happy to see it,¡± he said. ¡°If you are short of money, come to me. I think the porridge tent is a good idea. Why don¡¯t you add a few more?¡± ¡°I appreciate Uncle¡¯s thoughts, but we shouldn¡¯t just focus on the porridge tent,¡± Fu Zhiyu poured him a cup of tea and said with a smile. ¡°The porridge tent is just a palliative thing, and it shouldn¡¯t spread too much, let alone for too long. The medicine centre has already done it, and the Deng and Qian families are also doing it. If something is given for free for a long time and the people are used to it, they will take it for granted. If it is gone, they will complain. Give rice and you¡¯re kind, stop giving rice and you¡¯re hated. The porridge tent and medicine tent are just emergency relief. If people get used to getting it for nothing, it¡¯s not good.¡± ¡°I¡¯m afraid it is not easy for you to start,¡± Yuan Jiangwen said. ¡°Jiangnan is actually a difficult place to manage. Even if the four major families listen to you now, it is still hard.¡± Fu Zhiyu knew that Jiangnan was a place with a rich foundation. It wasn¡¯t like some barren land that was already at a low point and couldn¡¯t get worse no matter what you did. It was different here. He smiled and said: ¡°I went to the restaurant some time ago and listened to those scholars talking about governance. Some of them say that as long as the money of the four great merchants is taken and shared among everyone, there will be no poor people in Jiangnan. Uncle, do you think it makes sense?¡± Yuan Jiangwen smiled, and seemed to think this idea was very naive. He shook his head: ¡°It was not that we can¡¯t spare the money, it¡¯s just¡­¡± Advertisements ¡°This is actually the same as the porridge tent. The money will only last for a while. If a family doesn¡¯t have the ability to make money, it¡¯s useless to give money,¡± Fu Zhiyu said. ¡°It is useless to blindly scold the wealthy merchants for sucking blood. When the wealthy merchants sell cloth for ten taels and only give fifty wen to the weaver, it sounds very hateful, but I have also read the documents. Before the business was started, it was already very good that a cloth could be sold for twenty wen. It was the merchant caravans that opened up the channels for buying and selling that caused the price of cloth to rise year by year. It is unfair to remember them for sucking blood and not to remember their credit. Uncle, don¡¯t worry, if I need it, I will find the Yuan family.¡± After Yuan Jiangwen left, Fu Zhiyu sat alone at his desk, looking at the sentences he had written, and pondered for a long time. He seemed confident in front of Yuan Jiangwen, but he knew in his heart how uneasy he felt, facing these things. In fact, this wasn¡¯t the first time he envisaged these things. Fu Zhiyu had envisaged them long ago in his previous life, when he was still the emperor. People have their own strengths, but the only thing that seemed to shine here in Jilin was to be an official, as if the rest of the world was a lowly thing, looked down upon. Those with a little ability had to squeeze into the imperial examination, but civilian and military candidates were limited in numbers. It was not bad to test your abilities, but there were only so many official positions. What should most people do? In the aspect of the four lines of scholars, farmers, industry and commerce, Jiangnan had actually realised part of Fu Zhiyu¡¯s vision in his previous life. It could be regarded as advanced, but it was still not enough. Due to the high status of merchants, there were more paths to success in commerce here, and apart from merchants, there were also craftsmen. But not everyone could be a craftsman. In fact, from the perspective of Jilin as a whole, the status of a craftsman was higher than that of a merchant. Skills were not something that everyone could learn. They were generally passed down from generation to generation, and only a limited number of apprentices were taught. Speaking about farming, the variety of grains grown in Jiangnan was very small, mostly monocultural. The farmers at the bottom didn¡¯t know how to adapt and were unable to adapt. The agricultural tools used were also very simple. The old oxen used to plough the fields were already a luxury in many villages, with the majority still relying on human labour. Fu Zhiyu had seen many worlds in the Lord God¡¯s space. He knew that the ancient world of ¡°His Name Will Live On in History¡± was backward in level, and as far as the limitations of the times were concerned, Fu Zhiyu couldn¡¯t make too many epoch-changing things. He was not so omnipotent and omniscient; but it was still possible to make some improvements on the current basis. The same went for the system, which couldn¡¯t be changed in the short term and required even more care and caution. For example, Fu Zhiyu knew that allowing peasants to own land directly could drastically change their lives, but if he did so, it would be tantamount to touching the deepest interests of the landowning class, which was located at the top of the hierarchy in this era. He himself was a big landowner, and even if Fu Zhiyu was ready to make innovations for himself, it didn¡¯t mean that others would agree. The times had limitations. It was not that he could do whatever he wanted. Fu Zhiyu had planned for a long time, but his experience in the Lord God¡¯s space made him more perceptive and able to see what existed and what could be changed from the top down. This was a rare free world that could be changed. Fu Zhiyu felt that he had done very well so far after his rebirth, but if he continued, he could make a difference to the fate of many other people. Not only his mother, Mingdao and the Yuan family; this was actually¡­ his own regret. However, when he thought about it, he unconsciously tapped his fingers on the desktop. Before that, shouldn¡¯t a hidden danger be solved? Before he returned to the mansion today, Fu Zhiyu went to the largest restaurant in the city and bought two pots of peach blossom brew. He didn¡¯t invite anyone today. He just sat in the pavilion by himself, drank alone under the moon, and drank both pots of wine cleanly. He seemed to be even more drunk this time, staggered back to the room, and then fell asleep on the bed, not even covered by the quilt. Although the weather was getting warmer now, it would get cold at night. Fu Zhiyu¡¯s clothes were not thick. He opened the window and didn¡¯t close it. The cool breeze blew for a while. Lying on the bed, he seemed to feel it too. He shrank in a ball, but he seemed to be asleep, unable to reach out to pull the quilt. Before long, there was a slight movement from the window, and a figure flashed in. First, the man closed the window lightly and then walked to the side of the bed, trying to cover Fu Zhiyu with a quilt. But when Fu Zhiyu lay down, he pressed the quilt under him. The man was afraid of waking him up, so he moved more cautiously, but halfway through pulling the quilt, he heard the cold and faint voice of the person on the bed: ¡°How long have you been here?¡± Fu Zhiyu opened his eyes and was looking at him. There was no trace of drunkenness in his eyes, and his gaze was very clear. CH 83 Xie Ke¡¯s first reaction was to run away. He retracted his hand at once, and then stared at Fu Zhiyu in disbelief for a while, unable to move his feet. The person he thought about day and night was right in front of him, and now looking at him. This scene made Xie Ke freeze in place. The truth was Zhiyu must have guessed it a long time ago. Even if he escaped now, he would be just deceiving himself. Fu Zhiyu sat up on the bed and looked at him up and down. Xie Ke was wearing a night disguise, all in black, and he even covered his face with a mask, but it was useless. The two of them were too familiar with each other, and they could recognise each other just by looking at the figure. Besides, Xie Ke was the only one who would do such a thing in the middle of the night. After the initial shock, Xie Ke didn¡¯t dare to look at Fu Zhiyu, but also didn¡¯t go away, just dumbly standing at the edge of the bed. After a while he said, ¡°Zhiyu¡­ I¡­¡± He didn¡¯t even know where to put his hands and feet. He was like a child who was caught stealing. He wanted to return all the items he had stolen and to explain. But halfway through the explanation, he couldn¡¯t say anything. Xie Ke couldn¡¯t find any excuses. In the end, he lowered his head and sighed. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I miss you so much, I can¡¯t help it. I just came here.¡± Fu Zhiyu¡¯s face wasn¡¯t angry, it was indescribably calm. After all, he had guessed it a long time ago, and now he was just confirming it. ¡°What¡¯s the point of being so secretive? I think it¡¯s just being presumptuous again,¡± Fu Zhiyu said, shaking his head and asking again, ¡°Just how long have you been here?¡± ¡°It¡¯s only for the last month,¡± Xie Ke said honestly, ¡°I heard they harmed you, I was afraid¡­¡± Fu Zhiyu interrupted him very indifferently: ¡°You know that they harmed me, and naturally you also know that the sacrifice proceeded smoothly. I solved it myself. Why did you want to come? Also, don¡¯t treat me like a fool. I just bought the wine, and you knew. When did you plant the people? I¡¯m afraid this is not a matter of a month, right?¡± After Xie Ke was seen through, he didn¡¯t dare to speak anymore. He carefully looked at Fu Zhiyu¡¯s face and couldn¡¯t figure out how he was feeling. But if he lied at this time, Zhiyu would only be more angry if he found out. ¡°I didn¡¯t mean to spy on you, I really didn¡¯t,¡± Xie Ke explained. ¡°Those people were there long before you arrived in Jiangnan. I just arranged them because I was afraid that you would have a bad time¡­¡± The more Xie Ke talked, the lower his voice became, and then he stopped explaining, lowering his head and looking like he was awaiting trial. When he was in the capital, he knew that Zhiyu didn¡¯t plan to stay in the palace for a long time. Didn¡¯t he pretend to be stupid at that time just to get away? As for the place to go, it was not difficult to guess, after all, Yuan Jiangwen¡¯s business was in Jiangnan. Xie Ke had a lot of selfishness in arranging these people at that time. He couldn¡¯t suppress his possessiveness, just thinking that he had to come into contact with Zhiyu wherever he was. But this kind of thinking changed later; he just wanted Zhiyu to live well. Advertisements After Zhiyu arrived in Jiangnan, Xie Ke was still in a coma for a long time. After he woke up, he discovered that even without his management, his set-up in Jiangnan was working very well. Some shops and restaurants had good business and made some money. The money was invested in other places, all secretly revolving around Fu Zhiyu. They had been doing a good job conscientiously. After Xie Ke woke up, he was afraid that it would be bad for him to influence things, so he forced himself not to read the news from there. He was afraid that after reading it, he wouldn¡¯t be able to help it, he would go to Jiangnan in spite of everything. Only vaguely knowing that Zhiyu had a good time made him feel at ease, so he could calm down and start dealing with the things in front of him. But the longer it took, the more he couldn¡¯t help it. His thoughts tortured him like a blunt knife cutting his flesh. When his subordinates hesitantly told him that something had happened, Xie Ke finally came. But he didn¡¯t dare to show his face when he arrived. He sent a message to the Deng and Qian families to make them behave, but at the same time he couldn¡¯t resist the urge to get closer to Zhiyu. He was obviously so close to him; Xie Ke couldn¡¯t bear to leave. He found one excuse after another for himself, such as protecting Zhiyu, but he still couldn¡¯t hide the emotions surging in his heart. ¡°Is the newly opened Southern Xinjiang-style pastry shop selling osmanthus candy at the door also your creation?¡± Fu Zhiyu asked him, ¡°What else, say it yourself.¡± Xie Ke didn¡¯t dare to hide it from him, so he said it one by one. Fu Zhiyu: ¡°¡­¡­¡± He felt a little sour when he heard it, and he almost had nothing to say. In the end, he only looked at Xie Ke and scolded him succinctly: ¡°Crazy.¡± Advertisements When Fu Zhiyu went to learn about Jiangnan a few days ago, he also found that there were many merchants in the Jiangnan area. Some of the caravans were actually very rich in financial resources, and some were not even much worse than the four great merchants. He hadn¡¯t thought of the seemingly scattered industries he had noticed. In fact, many of them were the work of Xie Ke. ¡°Many of the things I didn¡¯t take care of were made by them by themselves,¡± Xie Ke hurriedly explained. ¡°I just provide some help sometimes, and I also control them so that they don¡¯t dare to have any crooked thoughts, being greedy and trying to harm you.¡± Xie Ke had always been cautious when Fu Zhiyu was concerned. These businesses were very big, but they were actually independent of each other. For example, the person who managed the restaurant didn¡¯t know that the pastry shop over there also had the same origin. Xie Ke was not short of money, and these things were originally prepared for Fu Zhiyu. Zhiyu hadn¡¯t done anything in the three years since he took over Jiangnan. Xie Ke thought he just didn¡¯t want to get involved in these little things anymore, just wanted to live a relaxed and normal life, so when the Deng and Qian family offended him, Xie Ke took care of them by himself. He didn¡¯t want to make Zhiyu bother more. But he didn¡¯t expect that this incident would change Zhiyu a lot. He went to the government office to read the documents every day. Seeing that he was going to take charge, Xie Ke naturally supported all Zhiyu¡¯s choices. He didn¡¯t mean to disturb him, but since he came to Jiangnan, he couldn¡¯t leave at all. He just wanted to stay day after day. It was so close to Zhiyu. He was like an addict. He made excuses for himself to stay here day by day, trying to get close to Zhiyu again and again, and then¡­ this was what happened. ¡°I¡¯m sorry¡­¡± Xie Ke took off the black scarf covering his face. He looked at Fu Zhiyu with sincerity in his eyes, ¡°I¡¯ll leave Jiangnan now, and I really won¡¯t bother you again in the future.¡± Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t speak, and his silence made Xie Ke feel even more helpless. ¡°Those businesses, if you want to use them, you can also use them, any way you want. They were originally for you,¡± Xie Ke said. ¡°The things you plan for Jiangnan are not easy to realise. Although Yuan Jiangwen has money and is willing to help you, his caravans are involved in huge and complex interests. He has to take into account many people, and many things are not up to him to decide. I know that sometimes it is too difficult for him, but it doesn¡¯t matter to me. It¡¯s okay for those shops to lose money. They don¡¯t lack money.¡± He was ready to leave, so he hurriedly told Fu Zhiyu about this in a rambling manner, afraid that if he didn¡¯t know, he would suffer another loss or take a detour. ¡°How do you know what I want to do in Jiangnan?¡± Fu Zhiyu asked him, ¡°Watching me from start to finish, Xie Ke, are you a pervert?¡± ¡°No, no, I didn¡¯t read that. I usually didn¡¯t dare to get too close to you for fear that you would find out,¡± Xie Ke quickly explained, ¡°But I¡­ in my previous life, I read the political commentaries you left behind.¡± After Zhiyu left this world in his previous life, the longer it took, the more Xie Ke couldn¡¯t bear the longing for his lover. He could only rely on some of the things Zhiyu left behind to look at them and remember him, including the political essays written by Zhiyu. Xie Ke didn¡¯t know how many times he had read them. Xie Ke actually felt something was wrong at that time. Back then, he thought that Zhiyu was an actor, so it was normal that his character was different from the original work. Therefore, the political commentaries he wrote were very different from something that would be written by the vicious Fu Zhiyu in the original text. But the more he looked at them, the more he felt that something was wrong. After all, the actor was different from the natives. The political essays written by Zhiyu when he was the emperor were written with great care, showing what kind of person he was. He tried to treat his people gently and tried to build a better Jilin for them. But this was also what made it strange. The actor didn¡¯t need to do so much. The actor who knew the plot should have known very well that his task would be over long before he could do these things. So why bother to do such detailed and useless work? Some of the ideas in Zhiyu¡¯s political essays were more advanced than the original text, which meant that his plan was more progressive than the original world, but he had no chance to realise it. But at that time, Xie Ke was sure that Fu Zhiyu was an interfering actor. Even if he felt that something was wrong, there was no way to undo it at that time. ¡°I know you haven¡¯t let go of those things in your heart,¡± Xie Ke lowered his head, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, if it weren¡¯t for me, you could have achieved them, and you could be a good emperor that everyone loved.¡± Fu Zhiyu glanced at him, shook his head and said, ¡°It would be the same without you, the plot would be the same. It¡¯s all in the past, don¡¯t mention it anymore.¡± Xie Ke was right. His current plan for Jiangnan was indeed an upgraded version of those ideas in his previous life, and generally nothing had changed. Both of them were silent. Xie Ke had spoken before, and now Fu Zhiyu finally spoke: ¡°Why are you still doing this?¡± Xie Ke was taken aback for a moment, looked at him and said, ¡°I want to¡­ protect you, Zhiyu, I¡¯m really scared that something will happen to you.¡± When Fu Zhiyu heard this, he curved the corner of his mouth in a smile, but the smile wasn¡¯t a happy one, containing a bit of indescribable irony. ¡°Don¡¯t you remember the pain?¡± Fu Zhiyu looked at him and said, ¡°I gave you an arrow, and you almost died. That¡¯s it. Do you want to come back? Don¡¯t you hate me at all?¡± Xie Ke listened to this question, sighed for a long time, and said with a wry smile: ¡°Zhiyu, what exactly do you think of me? I¡­ how can I hate you?¡± CH 84 Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t know how Xie Ke was looking at the relationship between them now, but as far as he was concerned, it was all in the past. When he was reborn, he was still a bit resentful because of the past, not only because of his emotions, but also because of an indelible self-doubt in his heart. ¡ªWas there nothing in me that deserved recognition? Why was it that for all my devotion for the man I loved had always been a dead weight? Not to mention other things, his career, his friends and his family could all be regarded as failures. All things were intertwined, which made Fu Zhiyu¡¯s self-doubt stronger and stronger. Even if part of it was resolved in the system space, the deepest damage still existed and was deep-rooted. Even after his rebirth, Xie Ke acted so abnormally that it was hard to make up for the feeling of self-doubt in Fu Zhiyu¡¯s heart. So, there was never a moment when he believed that Xie Ke was sincere. No matter what Xie Ke did, he couldn¡¯t open Fu Zhiyu¡¯s heart, because that heart was tightly closed and no one could touch the deepest part of it. Later, when the two of them were honest with each other and talked about everything, not only did the truth come out, but also the resentment in Fu Zhiyu¡¯s heart finally disappeared. It turned out that there was a reason for all this, and a so-called hidden agenda, and that it wasn¡¯t his problem or his fault. The self-doubt in Fu Zhiyu¡¯s heart finally disappeared when all the truth was revealed, as if it was another rebirth. Feelings are affected by many things. When Xie Ke asked him in tears why they couldn¡¯t be together when the two of them were clearly in love, Fu Zhiyu was very calm. He calmly accepted the fact that fate had caused the two of them to miss it. In Fu Zhiyu¡¯s view, his arrow should have been able to get Xie Ke out of this world. At that time, the two of them would no longer cross paths in any sense, and this matter was over as far as he was concerned. Xie Ke had given him an arrow, and he paid it back. They were even. And as for the countless other things, it would be meaningless to calculate who owed who at this time. Fu Zhiyu felt that his anger was over and that the matter between them was finished. At that time, he thought that he and Xie Ke would never meet again. Advertisements But the reality was never as good as Fu Zhiyu wished. When Xie Ke gave Jiangnan to him, the two of them became even more entangled, as if a new line had been drawn in the relationship. Moreover, the imperial decree had already been issued at that time, and the emperor¡¯s words couldn¡¯t be changed. When Fu Zhiyu received the news, there was no room for change. Although he accepted it at that time, he didn¡¯t care about anything, pretending that it didn¡¯t exist, and pretending that he had nothing to do with Xie Ke. But Xie Ke obviously didn¡¯t want it to be like that. Fu Zhiyu stared at the man in front of him and sighed. ¡°I didn¡¯t do this to get anything in return.¡± Xie Ke looked at Fu Zhiyu¡¯s face, unable to figure out what he was thinking. He explained anxiously, ¡°I¡­ I¡¯m going back to the capital now, Zhiyu, just treat it as if none of this happened, okay? You can continue to do what you want to do, and I won¡¯t interfere anymore.¡± ¡°You are just deceiving yourself again,¡± Fu Zhiyu glanced at him, ¡°Did you arrange Zhang Lin too?¡± ¡°No,¡± Xie Ke shook his head. ¡°Zhang Lin is just a minor character. I didn¡¯t remember him, and I didn¡¯t know that he would appear here after the plot changed. It is true, I don¡¯t have to lie to you at this time.¡± Speaking of this, Xie Ke suddenly remembered something. He reminded Fu Zhiyu: ¡°Regarding the role¡­ the plot has changed. Deng Jinghe is out of control, you must be cautious about him.¡± In the original plot, the Yuan family had been slaughtered by the Crown Prince, and Deng Jinghe began to harvest the business left by the Yuan family in Jiangnan. Even then, he had already started to set up a relationship with Xie Ke. Although a cooperative relationship had not been reached yet, there had been exchanges. Deng Qian could no longer control him; whether he was willing or not, the Deng family¡¯s business had to be handed over to him. But now that the Yuan family had not fallen, the market was limited, and Deng Jinghe could only find another way. ¡°I asked someone to keep an eye on Deng Qian. After all, it wasn¡¯t to the point of costing him his life,¡± Xie Ke said. ¡°When Qian Manguan decided to save him, I found that Deng Jinghe was secretly doing something, trying to interfere with the medicine, planning to turn the bowl of life-saving medicine into a murderous poison.¡± If anything had gone wrong with that bowl of medicine, things would have been even more troublesome. Neither Qian Manguan nor Fu Zhiyu could do anything. If Deng Qian really lost his life, the whole situation wouldn¡¯t be as peaceful as it was now. It was not that Fu Zhiyu hadn¡¯t thought of this before. He asked Yuan Jiangxing¡¯s soldiers to keep an eye on it. Moreover, the administration of needles was watched by Dr. Chen, and all the medicine to be drunk was checked by Dr. Chen. It was not that he was unprepared. ¡°Deng Jinghe changed the spoon used to feed the medicine,¡± Xie Ke said. ¡°Most people don¡¯t care about this detail. Fortunately, my people discovered it.¡± When he said this, Fu Zhiyu was a little scared, but he immediately reacted again: ¡°Did you break Deng Jinghe¡¯s arm?¡± ¡°It¡¯s just a lesson for him,¡± Xie Ke said. ¡°He has always been such a person, he will do whatever it takes to achieve his goals. If you don¡¯t make him suffer, he will dare again in the future.¡± ¡°For him, don¡¯t you have any old feelings?¡± Xie Ke was taken aback; he knew that Fu Zhiyu was talking about the plot in the original work. ¡°He is not a good person. We used to use each other,¡± Xie Ke said honestly. ¡°Time has changed and the world has changed. I have no feelings for Deng Jinghe at present.¡± When Fu Zhiyu heard this, he was silent for a while, and said, ¡°Have you ever thought that I am actually the same as Deng Jinghe?¡± ¡°How can you be the same?¡± Xie Ke subconsciously wanted to refute, ¡°You and him¡­¡± Advertisements Fu Zhiyu waved his hand and said, ¡°You don¡¯t have to rush to object, Xie Ke, you also know that time has changed and the world has changed. I am not who I was back then. Everything you do now is actually to make up for your own regrets. This regret is not about me, it¡¯s just about yourself. Maybe you have some feelings for me in your heart that you didn¡¯t realise at that time. These regrets were infinitely magnified over time. But if you calm down, you will find that in fact, all of this is meaningless. If you see your own heart clearly, you will know that what I said is true.¡± Just like the self-doubt in his own heart before that made him unable to believe that Xie Ke was sincere, and also made him not want to fight for anything, not want to do anything apart from for a little concern for his family and friends, leaving the rest to fend for themselves. The truth that he had learned was just an accelerator; it just brought Fu Zhiyu back to the starting point. But what rekindled the flame in his heart were the dreams he hadn¡¯t achieved, all the dreams that he couldn¡¯t forget, stirred up by the current situation in Jiangnan. Everything outside helped it, but most importantly, Fu Zhiyu recognised himself, and only when he saw his heart clearly did he truly know what he wanted. ¡°What about you? Have you seen your heart clearly?¡± Fu Zhiyu then asked Xie Ke, ¡°Do you love me or do you have regrets? You had smooth sailing in the mission worlds before. You saw the unexpected in me and missed the Fu Zhiyu who fought against all odds just for you. But I will never be the same again.¡± Xie Ke listened to Fu Zhiyu¡¯s words patiently, but he didn¡¯t think about it as much as Fu Zhiyu wanted him to. He just smiled and very gently looked at the serious Fu Zhiyu sitting on the bed. He stretched out his hand as if to touch him, but quickly withdrew it. He didn¡¯t answer directly, but asked his own question: ¡°Zhiyu, did you count your days when you were in the Lord God¡¯s space?¡± There was no clock in the Lord God¡¯s space, let alone any device to calculate the time. Fu Zhiyu could only guess the time based on the speed of his reading and other self-perceptions. He felt that it should have been around a hundred years, but he couldn¡¯t be sure. Over time, his self-perception was no longer accurate, and there might be a big error. ¡°The time in the Lord God¡¯s space is standard time, but when we are in the mission world, the time will be enlarged, and the scale is different,¡± Xie Ke explained. ¡°We stay in the mission worlds for decades, and there are even some special mission worlds where you need to stay for thousands of years, but in the system space, it will only be a few days. Zhiyu, in order to reboot the world, I don¡¯t know how many worlds I have travelled to and how much time I have spent there. If it was just a momentary fever, I wouldn¡¯t be able to last for so long. I know exactly what I want. I could only stick to it if I thought about you.¡± He paused when he said this, and some nostalgia appeared in his eyes. ¡°You are right about regrets, Zhiyu, you are indeed my regret,¡± Xie Ke said, ¡°But it¡¯s not what you think. It is not that I miss the freshness brought by the unexpected or the symbolic ¡®Fu Zhiyu¡¯ who was good to me. No. Zhiyu, there is no shortage of surprises in my life, and there is no shortage of people who are kind to me. I am the person with the highest authority among the actors, and many people want to flatter me. But after all this time, after seeing so much, Zhiyu, I still love you very much.¡± In order to get closer to Fu Zhiyu at this moment, he half-knelt by his bed, like that time when he had returned from the Qianyuan Battle. Overwhelmed by his love, he couldn¡¯t help but reach out to straighten Fu Zhiyu¡¯s messy hair hanging over his cheeks. Fu Zhiyu¡¯s face was white like a piece of jade in the moonlight outside the window. ¡°It¡¯s ironic that in my previous life, after you left this world, I discovered that I loved you like this,¡± Xie Ke said. ¡°I read the political essays you left behind and counted all the things you left behind. I love this Fu Zhiyu who is different from others and is so good. It¡¯s not because it was fresh for a while, it¡¯s not just that you treated me well with all your heart and soul. It¡¯s because you deserve to be loved, and I can¡¯t help loving you. Zhiyu, I¡¯m not regretting that I can¡¯t get you. Maybe I had such an idea at first. When I first came back, I took a wrong turn because of such an idea, but I don¡¯t insist on it anymore. I just regret that I didn¡¯t find out that I loved you so much earlier, and I regret that I hurt you like that. I love you and I don¡¯t ask you to come back to me anymore. As long as you live well, I will¡­ get what I want.¡± At the end of Xie Ke¡¯s words, he couldn¡¯t help but reach and hug Fu Zhiyu, but he quickly let go. ¡°I¡¯m sorry I still let you see me in the end,¡± Xie Ke said, ¡°I will leave. Zhiyu, you have to take care of yourself here.¡± CH 85 After he said this, even if he didn¡¯t want to give up, he left quickly. When he left, Fu Zhiyu opened his mouth blankly, but didn¡¯t say anything. ¡°Really¡­¡± he muttered in a low voice, ¡°It¡¯s just a bad fate.¡± Fu Zhiyu lay on the bed for a long time in a daze, unable to sleep, and fell asleep only in the early hours of the morning. He got up late, and when he had breakfast, he found Steward Zhou¡¯s face to be a little weird. ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± Fu Zhiyu looked at him, rubbing his eyes, ¡°Is there something wrong?¡± Steward Zhou set up the snack plates for him on the table and said, ¡°I went to the pastry shop at the door to buy some desserts this morning, but the shopkeeper saw it was me and didn¡¯t take any money. I thought he saw that I was a regular customer and I didn¡¯t buy much today, so he just gave those things to me. Who knew he would say that there would be no need to pay in his shop in the future. I asked him why, and he said¡­ your master knows.¡± Fu Zhiyu: ¡°¡­¡­¡± He did know, but at the same time, he didn¡¯t know how to explain the mess to the steward. He just lowered his head and took a sip of porridge, frowning more and more severely. ¡°Don¡¯t go there in the future,¡± he said, ¡°If Mother wants to eat something, let Mingdao bring it from a trip.¡± But bringing it from a trip was not as convenient as buying it at the door of your own house. However, the master said so, and there was no reason for the servants to disobey. Steward Zhou nodded, cleaned up the table and left. After eating breakfast, Fu Zhiyu went to the government office. He had too many things to discuss with Yuan Jiangxing today. Before Fu Zhiyu¡¯s plan was implemented, the two of them discussed whether the governors of each city should be removed. Fu Zhiyu still remembered that after removing the governor of Luanzhou, he received pleading memorials from various places. ¡°They are all very disobedient people,¡± Fu Zhiyu said with emotion, ¡°Even if they restrain themselves when they see that the wind has changed, who knows how many favours they received in normal times.¡± Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t plan to remove all the officials in Jiangnan completely based on his own preferences. He would like to do so; after all, it was best to replace them all with his own people. But the whole Jiangnan was too big, and the time Fu Zhiyu had was too short. Yuan Jiangxing had soldiers under his command, and he had fighting skills. But each profession has its own specialisation. In the peaceful and prosperous world, few of these skills could come in handy. Advertisements The evaluation of these governors among the common people was also similar to that of the Governor Liu of Luanzhou. They had done asshole things, but they had occasionally done some useful things, too. According to the overall level of officials of Jilin, they were in the middle, the kind of people who made little difference whether they occupied an official post or not. But there was at least one thing they did better than Fu Zhiyu ¨C they understood Jiangnan. They were all officials who had been in Jiangnan for a long time, at least twenty years. With this, there was still room for them to be of use. ¡°For the time being, Uncle, please send someone to keep an eye on them and let me see which of them dares to snub me at this time,¡± Fu Zhiyu casually threw the flattering memorials on the floor, ¡°When the right time comes, Jiangnan can also hold its own imperial examination. I don¡¯t believe that no one can be selected. Meanwhile, it will be regarded as the trial period I give them. If they have good results, they can keep their position. If they don¡¯t agree with me and don¡¯t meet the requirements, I don¡¯t care how long they have been here, they can go home and farm!¡± Fu Zhiyu¡¯s overall plan included many aspects, and it also needed to be realised step by step. The most important step at the moment was the most suffering part in Jiangnan ¨C the poorest villages. The first village Fu Zhiyu visited was Heshun, an ordinary village, and according to Zhang Lin¡¯s guidance, he visited some of the poorest places in Jiangnan. Poor places had their own reasons for being poor. Some were in the mountains, where it took two hours to get out of the mountains. There were also some villages by the river. The terrain was low, and the crops were easily flooded when it rained a little, so naturally the harvest was not good. The problem of these villages couldn¡¯t be solved by simply moving, not to mention the question of where to move them. All places were currently limited in resources, and moving these people would not be agreeable to the people who used to live there. In Jiangnan, the idea of returning to one¡¯s roots was very significant, and unless one really couldn¡¯t survive, as long as there was a ray of hope, these people would not leave easily. ¡°In places that are prone to flooding and water accumulation, in addition to repairing dams to prevent deaths, don¡¯t grow rice anymore. Tell them to dig ponds and plant lotus roots,¡± Fu Zhiyu said. ¡°The villages in the mountains are suitable for growing more expensive medicinal herbs. They don¡¯t occupy much space, are high in price and relatively easy to transport. My uncle bought a lot of seeds that can be distributed for free. Poor places should adapt to local conditions. Not sticking to the old ways stubbornly will at least allow them to eat.¡± Having said this, Fu Zhiyu paused and showed Yuan Jiangxing a map of Jiangnan where he had marked the poorest villages. ¡°Of course, changing from rice to other crops requires a run-in period, and medicinal herbs can¡¯t be harvested in a short time. If necessary, the government can advance a part of the money,¡± Fu Zhiyu continued. ¡°Jiangnan can be considered lucky. This part that suffers hardships is not too large. There are not many poor villages that starve, and there are not many households in poor villages. Most of them have only a few dozen households. So the expenses will not be large for the time being, and more importantly, here¡­¡± Fu Zhiyu turned a page and pointed to the second chart. Yuan Jiangxing glanced at it and saw the drawings of some machinery, such as a weaving machine, but when he looked closely, it seemed to be different from a common loom. Advertisements In addition to agriculture, Jiangnan also had a more important handicraft industry, which was the basis for the flourishing merchant caravans. Jiangnan produced the best silk, embroidery, clothes, jewellery, and so on. This part was not about shortages, it was about the interests of the majority of people. Fu Zhiyu¡¯s idea was to improve the efficiency of farmers by transforming agricultural tools, creating more productivity and providing ordinary families with more options to earn money. At the same time, he planned to step by step change the current monopoly position of the four major merchants, encourage the development of small and medium-sized merchants, and increase the purchase price of the bottom handicraft industry, thereby improving the current situation in Jiangnan. The Yuan family was also among the four great merchants. Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t intend to favour one over another. He had already discussed it with Yuan Jiangwen. In fact, changing the monopoly status didn¡¯t mean that they would make less money. If the entire Jiangnan developed well, the wealthy merchants would only earn more, but the monstrous wealth that could hold the whole country hostage would no longer exist. Jiangnan couldn¡¯t be held hostage by anyone¡¯s selfishness, Fu Zhiyu thought, even his own. These were all big issues. It took time to realise these ideas, and it also took a group of people to implement them without stepping back. He alone couldn¡¯t do it. What Fu Zhiyu told Yuan Jiangxing about wanting Jiangnan to hold its own imperial examination was not just for fun. Among the top-notch talents selected in the civil and military imperial examinations in the capital, there were not many talents from Jiangnan. Obviously, there were many scholars in Jiangnan, but they couldn¡¯t compete with the locals of the capital. In addition to regional restrictions, Jiangnan was too far from the capital. For scholars, every time they went to the examination, it was almost like losing half of their lives. When they arrived in the capital, they were not acclimatised, which also made it difficult for them to compete on their true level. Jiangnan was the land that had been given to him, and according to the emperor¡¯s decree, Fu Zhiyu was allowed to organise his own imperial examinations. ¡°Why not do it?¡± Fu Zhiyu said, ¡°With so many people in Jiangnan, is it so difficult to choose excellent and usable people?¡± Yuan Jiangxing flipped through Fu Zhiyu¡¯s plans page after page and listened to him say this with a pleased smile on his face. ¡°Your uncle can only lead troops in war and doesn¡¯t understand this. I¡¯ve taken a closer look at it over time, but I haven¡¯t thought about it as fully or as deeply,¡± he said. ¡°Zhiyu, you originally¡­¡± ¡°Don¡¯t talk about this,¡± Fu Zhiyu seemed to guess what his uncle meant and interrupted him softly, ¡°There is nothing that was originally. This is just a plan for Jiangnan. Jiangnan is a small place, less than one-tenth of Jilin¡¯s territory. If it was the entire Jilin, the situation would be much more complicated than here. It is already very good for me to be able to manage this part of Jiangnan.¡± Fu Zhiyu knew that this was actually just the world of the book, and for a while he felt that what was before him wasn¡¯t real, but just a game. But so many people in this world didn¡¯t know it, and they worked hard to live without knowing it. The so-called real or not didn¡¯t matter so much. As far as Fu Zhiyu saw, each and every one of them was very much alive, could one say that it was all fake? Finally, this was a rare free world, and this world could be changed by him. Why not seize this opportunity to change it? This body would grow old, get sick and die. Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t know where he would go after he left this world again. He was a bug, he shouldn¡¯t disappear that easily; maybe he would go back to the Lord God¡¯s space and live his life timelessly. Before that, at least let¡¯s do something worth remembering, something really meaningful, so that it was not in vain to be reborn. Stop falling into the quagmire of your love and my love, and do something really useful. However, when it came to the space of the Lord God, Fu Zhiyu realised that the Lord God seemed to have not contacted him for a long time. It had been more than three years. The last time the Lord God looked for him, it seemed to have found a way to contact him, but then the contact was lost. Forget it; Fu Zhiyu shook his head and went on to focus on the important things at hand. The Lord God was very busy, so maybe it forgot him when it got busy. And the time flow of the two worlds was different, so maybe it hadn¡¯t been long at all on the Lord God¡¯s side. Never mind it. Fu Zhiyu was ready. The last thing he did before implementing his plans was to hand a memorial to the capital, where roughly stated his thoughts to the emperor and asked for the emperor¡¯s opinions. Even if it was his domain, the necessary procedures still had to be followed, and there should be no reason for the capital to disagree. The memorial was sent to the capital as quickly as possible, and as Fu Zhiyu had hoped, Fu Yanran didn¡¯t oppose his ideas, but instead allocated another sum of money to Fu Zhiyu from the state treasury. There was also a letter written by Fu Yanran in the things that were sent from the capital. The reason why it could be called a letter was because the tone of it wasn¡¯t as formal as in the decree, and it was a lot more relaxed. ¡°Imperial Brother, just do it,¡± it said. ¡°If you succeed, I will also send someone to learn. Imperial Brother will not be allowed to keep it secret when the time comes.¡± Yuan Jiangxing had always been a little worried about Fu Zhiyu¡¯s handing over the memorial. He was afraid that the emperor would be jealous, but after reading this letter, his heart was relieved a lot. ¡°Not everyone will be dazzled by the throne,¡± Fu Zhiyu said with emotion, ¡°Yanran¡­ is quite suitable for that position, and I am also very fortunate that he is the emperor at that time.¡± CH 86 Now everything was ready but the east wind (lacking only one crucial item). There were many things that Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t need to do himself; such as the change of those backward villages; the governors of various cities were to be responsible for them. The seeds given by Yuan Jiangwen had been shipped to various places, and this group of officials had to distribute them from top to bottom, and it couldn¡¯t be a decoration as it used to be before. Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t have three heads and six arms. No matter how capable he was, he still had to rely on the people below. Besides, he had other important things to do. After that, Yuan Jiangwen sent in a group of craftsmen, and then the Qian family, Deng family, and Lin family also followed suit. ¡°The craftsmen of the Qian family know the most about looms, and the Lin family has the largest number of properties under their control. The best waterwheels and ploughs in Jiangnan are all made by their family. Their carpenters and blacksmiths are the best. The Deng family knows how to build houses. As for our own family, I won¡¯t hide from you, we are not as good as them in terms of technology, but our family runs a money bank and has more cash than them,¡± Yuan Jiangwen smiled, ¡°Yuan Lu has got a group of excellent jade craftsmen, but jade is a precious thing after all, many people may not be able to touch jade for the rest of their lives after learning it. For the time being it is not suitable to push it to the common people, it is useless to learn it.¡± Fu Zhiyu nodded, indicating that he knew. These top craftsmen were the treasures of various merchants, and they were much more valuable than a shop. Qian Manguan was pretty distressed when delivering them, but he turned to Fu Zhiyu and told the truth: ¡°Although they are craftsmen of my family, you must also know that we are actually in an employment relationship. I am usually polite to them and never dare to offend them. After all, their history is much longer than that of my Qian family. Just take those few embroiderers, among them there are the proper heirs of Suzhou embroidery (one of the four major traditional styles of Chinese embroidery), it is not exaggerated to say that they will enter the history books in the future, I can send them in person to Wang Zhao, but this craft¡­¡± Qian Manguan hesitated for a moment, and then said: ¡°Family craft is generally not passed on to outsiders. As you know, this is the ancestral rule of many craftsmen. If you try to steal it, you will be punished by death.¡± Fu Zhiyu also knew that; he patted Qian Manguan on the shoulder and comforted him: ¡°Master Qian, don¡¯t worry, I¡¯m only borrowing them for a while, afterwards I¡¯ll return them to you in full, and I won¡¯t make things difficult for them.¡± Qian Manguan wanted to say something, but kept silent in the end. Fu Zhiyu looked at his speechless appearance, found it funny, and asked him, ¡°What¡¯s the matter? Do you think you are going to lose money again? Just say it if you have something to say.¡± Qian Manguan didn¡¯t dare to say anything, but Qian Manguan felt very aggrieved. Advertisements It was just a matter of spending money and energy for someone he didn¡¯t dare to offend to play; that was what he thought in his heart. ¡°Come, let me show you something.¡± Fu Zhiyu took him into the inner room and showed him the drawings of the improved loom he had drawn. Qian Manguan would have thought that this pampered man wouldn¡¯t know anything about looms, but after a quick glance, he could see that something was different. He couldn¡¯t care less about respect, so he grabbed the drawing and looked at it. This improved technique was learned by Fu Zhiyu when he was in the Lord God¡¯s space. He carefully measured the degree to which it could be implemented with the current technology and refined it little by little according to his memory, but after all, he had never worked with it and it was still on paper, so he could only do it by inviting craftsmen over and combining their knowledge. Therefore, it was not enough to rely on the weavers and embroiderers of the Qian family alone. An improved version of the loom still required good carpenters and blacksmiths from the Lin family. The carpenters could make the frame, but the fine parts used for connection naturally required blacksmiths. ¡°How can this be called talking on paper!¡± Qian Manguan looked at the drawings and then at Fu Zhiyu again, with a look of disbelief, ¡°Wang Zhao, where did you get this¡­ God! Where did you get it?¡± Qian Manguan subconsciously didn¡¯t think that this was drawn by Fu Zhiyu himself; he felt Fu Zhiyu must have gotten it somewhere by his divine powers, but while he was excited, his mind gradually calmed down. The most important thing for Qian Manguan was the cloth business. He had seen countless weaving machines, and it was not that he hadn¡¯t thought about improving them. After all, for businessmen, if they could weave more cloth at the same time, they could make more money. But it was easier said than done. Fu Zhiyu¡¯s drawing was so detailed that Qian Manguan only needed to look at it for a while to know its value. It was not an exaggeration to say that this thing was priceless. ¡°What do you mean by that?¡± Qian Manguan was afraid that Fu Zhiyu would take the drawing back at any time, so he could only rely on his memory to remember every important point on it. Then he boldly proposed, ¡°Why don¡¯t you sell this drawing to me? You make an offer, as long as I can afford it, I will never bargain.¡± Fu Zhiyu showed him a light, very kind smile and said, ¡°That¡¯s so troublesome. I¡¯ll give it to you.¡± Qian Manguan was struck by such a huge surprise that he couldn¡¯t even speak, stumbling over his words, ¡°Really¡­ really?¡± ¡°Really,¡± Fu Zhiyu said, ¡°There are just a few small conditions.¡± There was a hint of cunning in his smile, like a little fox wagging its tail. As he had said, the wealthy merchants didn¡¯t bring only bad things to Jiangnan. They had a strong foundation in Jiangnan. There were some things that the wealthy merchants could do that were more useful and easier to accept than the government. Fu Zhiyu wanted to rely on these machines ¨C taking the looms as an example ¨C and build a number of factories based on the businesses of the merchants to provide a new means of survival for the people of Jiangnan. The Qian family originally had a weaving workshop, but most of the workers there were long-term workers who had signed a deed of sale, and they had not yet formed the kind of active weaving industry that Fu Zhiyu wanted. The development of handicraft industry and agriculture went hand in hand. Once the weaving industry expanded, silkworm farming that provided raw materials was bound to require manpower. Some farmers could cultivate mulberry leaves and raise silkworms without having to be stuck in the rice fields. ¡°A factory?¡± Qian Manguan was a bit confused, ¡°What do you want to do?¡± Advertisements In fact, it was very simple. Piece-based remuneration, employment system and so on, these things were not difficult to understand. The last point proposed by Fu Zhiyu was to increase the overall salary, to put it bluntly, to increase people¡¯s wages. ¡°The Qian family is the leader of the weaving industry, and with the Qian family taking the lead, this matter will be much easier to handle.¡± Fu Zhiyu said, ¡°I¡¯m not asking you to make less money. The efficiency of weaving improves, and you definitely won¡¯t earn less.¡± Qian Manguan scratched his head and didn¡¯t speak for a while. ¡°I know that now the Qian family¡¯s own weaving workshop actually only produces a small part of the cloth, and it can¡¯t keep up with your family¡¯s shipments. A lot of the cloth sold by the Qian family¡¯s weaving workshop is actually white cloth collected from the outside, and then dyed in the dyeing workshop, cut into clothes and embroidered,¡± Fu Zhiyu saw Qian Manguan¡¯s hesitation and continued, ¡°Although the price of the original cloth is low, the quality is uneven, causing you an additional headache. But if you produce it in your own factory, you can uniformly purchase silk and uniformly weave it. Fine cloth is handed over to fine people to weave, and ordinary cloth is handed over to ordinary people. A piece of cloth sold, from silk to ready-to-wear clothes, it¡¯s all controlled by you. In this way, you won¡¯t earn less. Don¡¯t sell yourself short when you get a bargain. If you don¡¯t want to do it, more people will want to.¡± Qian Manguan was taken aback, and then thought: this man is really like this, using both a carrot and a stick. The last sentence could be regarded as a warning. ¡°Let¡¯s do it, let¡¯s do it!¡± Qian Manguan nodded like a chicken pecking at rice, ¡°What you say is just right.¡± But before he left, he glanced at Fu Zhiyu up and down again. ¡°What are you looking at?¡± Qian Manguan was now quite relaxed towards Fu Zhiyu, not as scared as he had been before the meeting. He now thought this man was really good, and there was no reason to disobey him. Wang Zhao was good-looking and capable. ¡°Looking at your face,¡± Qian Manguan cheerfully took the drawing and dared to tease Fu Zhiyu. ¡°I wanted to do this before. I asked the Lin family for a blacksmith and a carpenter but they wouldn¡¯t give them to me. It must be hard to deal with the Lin family.¡± Fu Zhiyu was taken aback for a moment and said, ¡°Really?¡± No, he thought, it must have been that Qian Manguan spoke in the wrong way, making the Lin family angry for no reason. He thought the Lin family was very good to talk to. Fu Zhiyu hadn¡¯t had time to go there in person yet. At that time, it was just Yuan Jiangwen who went to test the Lin family¡¯s mood, and they agreed without asking more or asking for more. The next day, the craftsmen came over. Before Qian Manguan left, he glanced at Fu Zhiyu¡¯s desktop. There were several drawings scattered there, but from a distance, he couldn¡¯t see clearly what was painted on them. Wang Zhao must still be hiding something else. Qian Manguan wasn¡¯t so smug that he would think he was the one to get the biggest bonus. If anything, he couldn¡¯t be closer than the Yuan family. Sure enough, Deng Qian came not long after he left. Qian Manguan deliberately parked the carriage at the corner of the alley in front of the gate and waited for more than an hour before Deng Qian appeared. He hurriedly went over and stopped him, pulled Deng Qian over amiably and said, ¡°What did you talk about?¡± Deng Qian glanced at him vigilantly, drew his hand back, and didn¡¯t answer. ¡°Don¡¯t be a stranger,¡± Qian Manguan glanced around and knew that this was not a place to talk, ¡°Let¡¯s go and find a secluded place.¡± Deng Qian couldn¡¯t do anything; his body was still weak and he had no strength to resist, so he could only be pulled away by the sturdy Qian Manguan. When they arrived at the private room of the restaurant, Qian Manguan said straightforwardly: ¡°Here, let¡¯s be frank, I¡¯ll show you what I have.¡± Qian Manguan folded his drawings, hiding some key points and only showing the top picture. ¡°The loom,¡± Deng Qian glanced at it, raised the corner of his mouth and smiled, also following his example and folding his own copy of the drawing, ¡°Mine is much better than yours.¡± Qian Manguan looked down and said in surprise: ¡°A ship?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± Deng Qian said, ¡°Wang Zhao said, after all, there are limited people in Jiangnan, and you have to sell things to make money. Caravans mostly use horse-drawn carriages. The transportation volume is small and the road losses are large. Although the ships are a little slower, they have a large carrying capacity.¡± There were several rivers in Jiangnan, through which one could get to other cities in Jilin, as well as to Southern Xinjiang and the ancient countries of the Western Regions. It was not that the merchants had never used this kind of transportation. The Deng family also had a special shipyard; but compared to the drawing in front of them it could be regarded as small fry. ¡°Wang Zhao said that he had asked His Majesty to build a new canal to connect the river of the capital with the Ming River in Jiangnan,¡± Deng Qian said, ¡°Not only to drain the water flow and prevent flooding along the way, but also to facilitate commerce and, later, even to take the water route to the barbarian grasslands in the far north.¡± CH 87 The biggest reason for building the canal wasn¡¯t because of trade. Fu Zhiyu still remembered the floods in his previous life. It rained heavily for a month, and the people were miserable, their food was flooded, and their houses collapsed. Fu Zhiyu was still the emperor when the flood happened. The follow-up disaster relief was weak, and officials were corrupt, which led to the riots of the people who couldn¡¯t survive. So Xie Ke¡¯s rebellion at that time received the support of a large part of the population, and it could even be said to meet the public expectations. In fact, this matter had nothing to do with Xie Ke, and the rain wasn¡¯t caused by him. But the guilt Fu Zhiyu felt at that time became a shadow he couldn¡¯t erase. He wronged those people. He didn¡¯t control the officials under him and failed to give the people the help they should have had. Now that there were still several years before the flood, it was enough to prepare. Through the Yuan family in recent years Fu Zhiyu had donated a lot of money to build a dam along the way, but he felt that it was still not enough. The idea of a canal gradually took shape. After seeing Fu Yanran¡¯s reply, he realised that their ideas coincided, and Fu Yanran even had already started to do it a long time ago. ¡°The Xie family also mentioned the construction of the canal, and now they are already recruiting workers along the way,¡± Fu Yanran wrote in the letter. ¡°I think that although the scope of the flood is not large now, if it comes to the rainy season, it can easily lead to a catastrophe. Although there are dams along the way, it is better to drain it than to block it. It would be better to build a canal to help the country and the people, for the benefit of a thousand years.¡± Fu Zhiyu had also been to the shipyard of the Deng family. The craftsmen were good, and there were many developing things. If the craftsmanship could reach a better level in the next few years, it might be possible to build large-scale machinery, so that the canal could be dug without relying on manpower only, and the efficiency would be faster. However, as far as the current situation was concerned, it was too far to think about it; let¡¯s do the little things first. The last one to come was the Lin family. Fu Zhiyu gave him a lot of drawings, from small agricultural tools to waterwheels. Their family specialised in this, and as he expected, they had no objections, like the Qian and Deng families. The head of the Lin family was Lin Yan. He was the oldest among the four heads, one year older than Yuan Jiangwen. Unlike the other three, his family had a long history of doing business and had accumulated a lot. Although relatively speaking, it was not as aggressive as other families, but the land and properties accumulated before were enough for the Lin family to eat for a lifetime. What also made Fu Zhiyu look at them differently was the fact that the Lin family¡¯s land wasn¡¯t only in Jiangnan, but spread over many parts of the continent. Because it was a long-established family of many years, it had many branches. For example, one of the Lin family¡¯s branches had a farm on the barbarian side, specialising in growing cotton, and many of the merchants¡¯ raw materials were actually supplied by this family. The Deng and Qian families both had one word for the Lin family ¨C old-fashioned. Back then, Fu Zhiyu investigated the matter of the sacrifice and was interested to see that the Lin family had withdrawn from the beginning, and even spent some effort to stop the others from doing it but didn¡¯t succeed. Yuan Jiangwen had a few more things to say about the man, saying that he was conservative and cautious. Advertisements ¡°I don¡¯t know if it¡¯s the reason why he hasn¡¯t married until now. He rarely speaks and is silent most of the time,¡± Yuan Jiangwen introduced him to Fu Zhiyu. ¡°The Lin family is a big family. There are so many branches in the family and also many excellent seedlings. The heirs of this family are all competing with each other. If he doesn¡¯t marry, many people in the Lin family will be quite satisfied, so no one says anything to him about it.¡± ¡°Lin Yan is a rock,¡± Yuan Jiangwen thought for a while, and made a final summary, ¡°Don¡¯t beat around the bush when talking to him, just say it straight. He is open neither to persuasion nor to coercion, and he always has his own way of doing things.¡± When Fu Zhiyu heard this, he was quite nervous at first; but then he showed Lin Yan the drawings and the man stared at the drawings carefully for a long time, thinking something. Finally some expression appeared on his stone-like face. A little surprise, and a little relief. After Lin Yan¡¯s face showed some expression, he appeared pretty good-looking. Probably because his face had been frozen and blank for too long, there were few wrinkles. He looked younger than Deng Qian, who spent his time playing with brothel girls. This was the first time Fu Zhiyu officially met Lin Yan, but because of the previous events, his first impression of Lin Yan was good. ¡°I think it¡¯s fine. There is nothing wrong with it,¡± Lin Yan said. ¡°I¡¯ll just follow Wang Zhao¡¯s idea. My Lin family has no objections. If you need anything, we¡¯ll do our best.¡± Quite refreshing. Fu Zhiyu¡¯s favorability for him had risen a bit again. The Deng and Qian families actually recognised the drawings as soon as they looked at them, but they had a lot of thoughts, so they wouldn¡¯t say anything in the first place, they would have to test Fu Zhiyu for a while, and would only nod if they knew enough. In contrast, Lin Yan was really easy to talk to. Fu Zhiyu thought: sure enough, you can only judge people when you get along with them yourself, and the comments of my uncle and the others are all a bit one-sided. But Lin Yan hadn¡¯t left yet, and Fu Zhiyu watched him giving the place an unobtrusive glance. This wasn¡¯t the government office, this time the appointment was made at home. ¡°In the future, if I have any questions, can I visit Wang Zhao by myself?¡± Lin Yan said; his voice was very cold, but if you listened carefully, you could hear a few tremors, ¡°Just to talk about some¡­ business.¡± His words sounded a bit like a cover-up, but Fu Zhiyu had heard him agree earlier, so he didn¡¯t pay attention to this detail and replied quickly, ¡°Naturally, you are always welcome.¡± Lin Yan breathed a sigh of relief, and left soon after. After a while, Steward Zhou came in to clean up the tea on the table, and also mentioned to Fu Zhiyu: ¡°Master Lin is really polite, and he even brought a gift.¡± ¡°Didn¡¯t I tell you that I wouldn¡¯t accept their gifts?¡± ¡°When he came in, he put it quietly by the door. No one saw it at first. If it weren¡¯t for the Lin character engraved on it, I¡¯m afraid I wouldn¡¯t be able to tell who sent it,¡± Steward Zhou explained. ¡°After the servant found out, he immediately chased after Master Lin to return it, but Master Lin said it was just a box of pastries, made by the private chef at home. There was no point in returning it, was there?¡± Sure enough, Fu Zhiyu smelled the sweet smell coming from inside; the box was actually a food box. ¡°Forget it,¡± Fu Zhiyu waved his hand, ¡°If there is nothing wrong with these pastries, just keep them, never mind such a small matter.¡± During lunch, Steward Zhou served the pastries from the Lin family on a silver plate. The pastries had a sweet and salty taste. Fu Zhiyu took a bite and never touched it again, but Yuan Wanyun ate a lot. Advertisements ¡°There used to be a cook at home who would make this kind of pastry. I liked them very much. Later, the cook left, and I never tasted them again,¡± Yuan Wanyun was a little nostalgic, ¡°Because it¡¯s been too long, I can barely remember it. But I just think the taste is too similar to the one in my memory. Is it a specialty snack in Jiangnan?¡± Fu Zhiyu smiled and said, ¡°I don¡¯t know, but you can ask the cook at home to go to the Lin family to learn. I met Lin Yan today and thought he was pretty talkative.¡± Yuan Wanyun somewhat knew what her son was doing recently, but she didn¡¯t understand such things, so she didn¡¯t interfere. Anyway, she always supported everything Zhiyu did. ¡°No need to bother so much. There are so many delicious things in the world, do you have to move them all to the backyard?¡± Yuan Wanyun said, ¡°I don¡¯t like it too much, I was just a little surprised. Zhiyu, you go and do those big things. Although Mother can¡¯t help you with this, she can avoid causing you more trouble.¡± After listening to this, Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t argue, but the smile on his face became more gentle, and he said, ¡°When I¡¯m done these few days, I will make some snacks for Mother. I have also learned a few skills from the kitchen chef before. The snacks I make are definitely better than this one.¡± Yuan Wanyun smiled but said nothing. However, Fu Zhiyu underestimated how busy he was. Although he fulfilled his promise to make the snacks for his mother a few days later and the snacks tasted good, it was too late when they were ready, and Yuan Wanyun, who was waiting, had already fallen asleep leaning on a small table. Fu Zhiyu was also very sleepy. He sent his mother back to her bedroom quietly, washed up as quickly as possible, and fell asleep as soon as his head touched the pillow. The next day, he was about to set off at dawn and go to the village next to Luanzhou City to see the situation. When he came back in the afternoon, he happened to pass by his estate. Fu Zhiyu also had an estate in the countryside since the time he had come to Jiangnan. The vegetables and meat eaten in the mansion were all grown in his estate. When the wolfdog Rongrong first came to Jiangnan, he had a bit of problem acclimatising. There were many people in the city and it was very noisy, which made Rongrong restless. He was also kept in the estate for a while before he felt better, and now he was well-adapted. This estate also grew the melon seedlings that Fu Zhiyu moved from the capital, but since they were now in the countryside, they didn¡¯t have the good treatment that Fu Zhiyu used to give them when he watered them with his own tea. Fu Zhiyu only remembered that the melons weren¡¯t sweet or delicious. The estate was far away and he forgot about them for a while. Now he happened to be passing by, so he went to take a look. The melons were still growing very well, very lush, and every leaf was vibrant. ¡°The fruits are very good!¡± The farmers in the estate also praised, ¡°It grows quickly, and the fruit is sweet. Anyone who eats it will have to praise it.¡± When Fu Zhiyu heard them say this, he slowly realised that the kind of melon he often ate at home was from this plant; but when the fruit at home came to him, it would be cut on a plate, and he had a prejudice regarding this melon, so serious that he had never recognised it. He never expected it to come to Jiangnan and actually change so much. Such a change, in addition to the fact that the water and soil in Jiangnan were suitable for the growth of melons¡­ were there other reasons? ¡°Jiangnan also originally had this kind of melon, but the ones from other families are different from ours, the ones from our farm are much sweeter and bigger than theirs.¡± The head of the estate saw that Fu Zhiyu listened very seriously, and spoke boldly. He didn¡¯t learn etiquette and his speech was straightforward. His smile looked very honest, ¡°In addition to sending it to the mansion, we also make a lot of money from it.¡± CH 88 After listening, Fu Zhiyu stretched out his hand and touched the melon¡¯s leaves again, his expression a little vague. He had known that his blood was different, and he used it to do many things, including using it to improve the health of his family and friends. He had also earned a sum of money as a back-up selling it, because he wanted to live a comfortable life without thinking about daily expenses. But the plan couldn¡¯t keep up with the changes, and he didn¡¯t expect things to turn out like this at the time. He actually hadn¡¯t used the money for selling medicine until now. What the mansion used was the money from the box given to him when he became the King of Jiangnan, and he hadn¡¯t even used much of it in recent years, less than one-tenth. Fu Zhiyu had also seen the accounts in his mansion. There were really few places to spend money. Mainly, his own estate provided a large part of the food, and other places to spend money were also limited. He and his mother were not big spenders. But now the money earned from the pills was going to be put to good use, just in time to spend on his own plans for Jiangnan, not accumulating dust in the treasury for nothing. Fu Zhiyu hadn¡¯t used his blood for a long time. There were enough pills for his family to eat, so he didn¡¯t need to. The fact that the pills¡¯ effect came from his blood was something that both his mother and Mingdao had kept to themselves, as if they had never heard of it, and it had never leaked out. There were times when he forgot about the special characteristics of his own body. Only a small part of the medicine was sold before, and now the price had become sky-high in the market, but no one was selling it. Fu Zhiyu had been forced to think about making a living before, so he used his blood for personal gain; but now he looked at the melon and suddenly had a new idea. He asked the head of the estate: ¡°Have you ever transplanted it? Or, have you used the seeds to grow other seedlings?¡± ¡°Yes, I took branches out and planted them, and I also took the seeds and planted them outside, and this melon grows very well,¡± said the head of the estate. ¡°They all grow very well and produce sweet fruit, all the same.¡± They didn¡¯t think there was anything strange about it, because everyone in the estate knew that the seedlings had been moved over from the capital, and they only thought that it was a good variety for the noble family, and that it was normal for the melons to be different from the ordinary ones. When Fu Zhiyu heard this, he thought of something, and an idea more or less formed in his mind. However, this matter was not as urgent as the plan already made in front of him; after all, Fu Zhiyu still needed time to verify it. Besides, he wasn¡¯t so selfless. He didn¡¯t care about such extraneous things as money, so he gave it, but when it came to his own blood, he couldn¡¯t help but be cautious. Just looking at the sky-high price of the pills, you could see how attractive this thing was to people. This was different from drawings, or in other words, this thing was much more attractive and threatening than drawings. Never let the fourth person know, nor let others discover a clue. Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t want to challenge people¡¯s darkest side. With this thought in his mind, Fu Zhiyu went home with a lot of worries. This was a matter that had both benefits and risks. No one could know what he was planning at this time. A month later, the loom according to the drawing was built. This speed surprised Qian Manguan a little. Although there were drawings, he had never seen some very detailed parts on them that needed to be refined little by little. Besides, the drawings were drawings, and the physical objects were physical objects. Being made in one month was already very powerful. In the middle, Fu Zhiyu also communicated with the craftsmen many times, and changed some ideas based on the experience of the craftsmen. In the end, it was already very good. Qian Manguan looked at the loom and gently stroked it with his hand, as if looking at his lover. ¡°Ask the weavers to try it,¡± Fu Zhiyu couldn¡¯t help but feel a little relieved, ¡°Try how efficient it is. If it works, just go with it.¡± ¡°Good, good,¡± Qian Manguan could hardly suppress the excitement on his face, ¡°I¡¯ll ask them to try it!¡± Advertisements On the Lin family¡¯s side, the transformation of some simple agricultural tools was even faster, and slightly larger labour-saving ploughs were also being made. The progress was good, but big items like waterwheels required more time. Moreover, waterwheels needed supporting measures, requiring the digging of ditches to divert water for the purpose of irrigation, which, in short, was a major project that burned time and energy. The ship on Deng Qian¡¯s side would take even longer. Fu Zhiyu conservatively estimated that it would be very good if it could be made within three or five years, but Deng Qian was not in a hurry. He was a big businessman and knew that although it took a long time and it was not as immediate as the Qian family¡¯s loom, if it was really done, the benefits would be immeasurable. Moreover, he could also feel that what Fu Zhiyu said was true. He said that he wanted to build a canal, and soon after, the capital began to spread the news about recruiting canal workers. The Yuan family was the least anxious one. It seemed that Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t give anything to it, but Yuan Jiangwen kept giving money to help him and in fact, Yuan Jiangwen knew that he would definitely benefit a lot. The Yuan family ran a money bank, and no matter how big the other businesses were, they were actually closely related to him. This was the result of mutual influence. Even on Yuan Lu¡¯s side, Yuan Lu was now in the jade business, but jade had always been a luxury item that most people couldn¡¯t afford. If Jiangnan became rich, his business would naturally be better. ¡°In fact, at this point, it doesn¡¯t matter if you have more or less money,¡± Yuan Jiangwen said to Fu Zhiyu very seriously. ¡°Now that I have earned money that I can¡¯t spend in three lifetimes and Yuan Lu is also promising, I have nothing to ask for. For a businessman, it is only meaningful if you can really do something that is beneficial to the society. Zhiyu, I am very grateful to you for giving me the opportunity to participate in all of this.¡± When Fu Zhiyu heard this, he didn¡¯t say much. Between close relatives, things could be understood without words. As soon as the news of the digging of the canal in the capital came out, the announcement in Jiangnan followed closely. Fu Zhiyu wrote the announcement himself, stating that the recruitment was not forced, it was all voluntary. The wages were paid daily, the work was divided into groups of five, the daily quota was fixed, the supervisors were not allowed to scold, but if the workers were lazy and deliberately delayed, they wouldn¡¯t be employed again after three times. Fu Zhiyu knew that many labourers were illiterate. He deliberately hired people in every city to read the announcement in the places where the labourers gathered. It was not easy to make money these days, and there was such a good job. Word got around, and within a few days it was all over the place. The government paid a part of the wages, and Fu Zhiyu paid a part. Among the four major families, the Deng family paid the most. Fu Zhiyu also considered it. He didn¡¯t set the wage rate too high, but it was higher than the labourers carrying large bales in the docks, so there were naturally many people who signed up for canal digging work. Because of the experience of his previous life, Fu Zhiyu intended to strictly investigate corruption this time and would never allow officials at all levels to withhold wages. Now the governors of various cities in Jiangnan were followed by a team of soldiers from Yuan Jiangxing, Fu Zhiyu also made it clear unceremoniously that they were being watched. The officials also knew the meaning of Fu Zhiyu¡¯s ¡°trial period¡±, and they didn¡¯t want to really lose their jobs. No one dared to touch Fu Zhiyu¡¯s bottom line at this time. Besides, Jiangnan was such a large area, and the people at the top were so strict that it was difficult for those below to play tricks to get past them. After the workers were recruited, the project of digging the canal began. Advertisements Jiangnan had been very lively recently. Spring had passed, but the prosperity had not receded in the slightest. On the loom side, since the prototype had been made, it was not so difficult to make it in bulk, but Qian Manguan was still a little hesitant about the factory. He also told Fu Zhiyu about his other concerns. ¡°Generally speaking, the people who learn to weave are all women. I used to have a textile workshop, and it¡¯s not that I never thought about making it bigger. It¡¯s true that collecting cloth one by one is very troublesome. It takes time and effort, but I can¡¯t help it,¡± Qian Man said. ¡°Women who weave generally do it to support their families. They don¡¯t go out of the house. Many of them can¡¯t accept being told to work in the workshop like men.¡± ¡°Why can¡¯t they work like men?¡± Fu Zhiyu asked rhetorically, ¡°Is it that they really don¡¯t want to, or are their families restraining them?¡± ¡°¡­What do you mean?¡± ¡°On the one hand, you have to let them know that in your factory, they can use a better loom. During the time they usually weave one cloth they now weave two or even three. This will earn them a lot more money, so who will have a problem with money?¡± Fu Zhiyu told him patiently, ¡°At the same time, people also need leaders. As long as you can find a small group of people who stand up first and show others their practical changes, even conservative people will be ready to move. The people of Jiangnan are more open than in other places, that¡¯s why I have such expectations. If money is not easy to earn, there will always be some obstacles to what we do, but there is always a way to solve it.¡± Qian Manguan seemed to understand and proceeded to arrange a factory. Yuan Wanyun heard the news from somewhere. A few days later, during the festival of worshipping the Weaving Maiden in Jiangnan, Yuan Wanyun, as the birth mother of the King of Jiangnan and also the former Imperial Noble Concubine, specially participated in this festival. This festival was somewhat like the sacrifice that Fu Zhiyu participated in last time. It was open to the public and there were many women there. In addition to silkworm farming women, there were also many weavers and embroiderers, making it as lively as the Qixi Festival. Yuan Wanyun changed into the dress of a peasant woman, and together with the ladies of several other families, fed the growing silkworms with mulberry leaves, and then made subtle references in front of everyone. ¡°Since ancient times, men have ploughed and women have woven, all doing the same work and singing as they worked. Who says that women are not as good as men?¡± She said in front of everyone, ¡°I only hope that the women of Jiangnan won¡¯t have to be afraid to walk out of the house and make money with their own hands. There is nothing to be ashamed of, and the Weaving Maiden will bless us.¡± Fu Zhiyu heard about this later. Yuan Wanyun patted him on the shoulder and said happily: ¡°I have been confused most of the first half of my life. Only when I gave birth to you did I feel that the previous years were not in vain. I didn¡¯t do it just to help you, I simply thought I should do it.¡± Qian Manguan also heard about this, so he took advantage of the situation and really invited several people over. The first people he recruited were a few widows, and a few girls whose parents died and who couldn¡¯t get married. There was no one to look after them and they were not afraid of others gossiping. Earning a good living for themselves was more important than anything else. But when they entered the Qian family¡¯s textile factory and started working, they found that the place was even better than they had imagined. Everything was prepared, the looms were made by the Qian family, the threads were also made by the Qian family, they just had to bring their skills, and the looms were very easy to use. The money was calculated by piece, and the rate was much higher than the usual money for cloth collection. ¡°The head of the Qian family said that there will be more people working in the future. If you are a weaver who has done well and worked for a long time, the Qian family will pay for the family¡¯s sons to go to school and learn to read and write,¡± the man in the workshop said. ¡°This is what Wang Zhao ordered, I won¡¯t coax you.¡± Go to school, ah¡­ Although they didn¡¯t expect to be able to pass the examinations, it was already good to be able to read and write. The women took the money home, and at the same time brought the news. Qian Manguan saw those weavers coming one by one; even though some women were still a little cautious, wearing veils and afraid that others would recognise them, but as the days went by, there were fewer and fewer people covering their faces. As Yuan Wanyun said, there was nothing to be ashamed of. Today, Qian Manguan also specially brought a cloth to show Fu Zhiyu. ¡°Today came a weaving girl with very good skills. You can touch this cloth,¡± he said happily. ¡°In the future, if the cotton and wool grown by the Lin family in the barbarian territory can be shipped here, the factory can also make cotton clothes. Wang Zhao, seeing that it is getting better and better, I am counting on you in the days to come.¡± Fu Zhiyu glanced at him and didn¡¯t comment on Qian Manguan¡¯s compliments, but smiled and said, ¡°This is just the beginning. There¡¯s still a lot to do, but this time I will accept your good words. I also hope¡­ it will really get better and better.¡± CH 89 The comfortable days changed to the busy days, and Fu Zhiyu felt that they went by very quickly. It was just that the comfortable days seemed to be the same every day. After living like this, it seemed that there was nothing left behind. But the busy days were full of memories, hectic and messy. Since Fu Zhiyu decided to start with his plans in Jiangnan, he was busy every day. As soon as he opened his eyes, he felt that a lot of things were waiting for him to do. He always felt that there was too little time and he couldn¡¯t do it unless he split himself in two. Time passed like this, and it was another winter. It wasn¡¯t until Yuan Wanyun personally cooked and brought him a bowl of longevity noodles that Fu Zhiyu suddenly realised that his birthday was here again. Another four years had passed, and he was already twenty-six years old this year. ¡°Why does time pass so fast?¡± Fu Zhiyu lowered his head and took a bite of noodles, praised his mother¡¯s craftsmanship and said with emotion, ¡°It feels like last year¡¯s birthday was just yesterday.¡± His birthday this year was not as lively as in previous years. Many people were busy outside. Mingdao originally wanted to come, but suddenly it snowed heavily on the road and he couldn¡¯t make it back. Although no one arrived, the birthday presents came early and the house was full of gifts. In addition to gifts from relatives and friends, there were also gifts from others. The Deng family, the Qian family and the Lin family were also very active in giving gifts, but knowing that gold, silver and jewellery couldn¡¯t attract Fu Zhiyu¡¯s attention, each family put a lot of thought into its gift. The clothes given by the Qian family were woven by the best weavers in the workshop. This was also the best fabric on the market, very comfortable to touch. The important thing was that the efficiency of weaving this kind of fabric had been more than doubled. The weaving machine had been transformed many times in the past four years, and it had also branched into many models for weaving different fabrics. There were more and more women working in textile factories and no one would think this was a shame. Because the weaving factories were getting more and more popular, some small weaving workshops also started; it was something Fu Zhiyu mentioned to Qian Manguan a long time ago. ¡°You can¡¯t be the only one to make all the money, I told you that when I gave you the drawings. Even if I let you be the only one now, would you dare?¡± Fu Zhiyu said, ¡°You are still the biggest cloth merchant, that¡¯s enough.¡± Qian Manguan also knew the saying ¡°a man who is never content is like a snake trying to swallow an elephant¡±, so he was also very supportive of some small weaving workshops. Not only was it a matter of listening to Fu Zhiyu¡¯s ideas, but more importantly, although his weaving factories were available in all the major cities in Jiangnan, they were only in the cities, and many of the weavers and embroiderers who lived in the villages would have to spend an hour to travel back and forth. Not every family could afford to use a horse-drawn carriage, and the weavers who lived farther away were spread all over the place, so even if he wanted to unify transportation, there was no way to do so; the cost of transportation was too great. If some small workshops opened, the weavers and embroiderers could work in their own villages, saving time and also benefiting him. Advertisements Besides, no matter how many weaving factories he opened, he couldn¡¯t accommodate all weavers and embroiderers in Jiangnan. Now there were more and more women who wanted to make money, very different from the time four years ago when it was impossible to recruit workers. According to Fu Zhiyu¡¯s idea, Qian Manguan was willing to sell his looms to the outside world. The price was very reasonable, and it also ensured that the fabrics woven by some small textile workshops were at the same level as those woven in his own factories. Then, he would collect them uniformly, much more conveniently than before. What surprised Fu Zhiyu and Qian Manguan was that the wisdom of the people was unlimited. They only needed a little guidance, and they would soon be able to figure out further routes. Soon after the looms were sold, someone figured out a way to improve them. There was no big improvement in efficiency, but they were more convenient for the weavers to use, labour-saving and making the weavers¡¯ arms less sore after a day of work. What the Deng family gave him was a big thing. It was a huge statue of a bodhisattva carved from agarwood, more than two people tall. It was made in the Western Regions. Steward Zhou put it in the Buddha hall. It was said to bless the family. Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t believe this, but the bodhisattva was carved very well, with a look of compassion for all beings on its face. Anyone who looked at it would be affected, so he followed his mother to worship. Agarwood was as heavy as iron, and if it had to be transported by a horse-drawn carriage, it would be quite difficult. But if you used a big ship to transport it by water, it would be much easier. The ship in the drawing that Fu Zhiyu gave to the Deng family had not yet been built. The requirements were too high. Only two-thirds of it had been completed so far, but the past few years had been enough to make some improvements to the existing ships. The ship in the drawings had not been completed, but last year, a low-profile version was built. It was officially launched in the spring of this year. So far, several shipments had been made. The main routes were to the ancient countries of the Western Regions and Jinzhou province above Jiangnan. At present, Southern Xinjiang had only cautiously opened a single dock, but the business had been done several times and there was an intention to open a few more docks there. As for what the Lin family sent, it was the barley produced in the barbarian grasslands. The taste of this grain was not as good as rice, but it was not easy to grow it on the grassland, and Fu Zhiyu loved it very much. The barley was not a grain he discovered; it had been grown by the barbarians for a long time, and some cities in the north of Jilin also relied on it for food. But the yield was very low, and one plant produced just a little grain. If there was a disaster year, there was no food to eat. Since Fu Zhiyu discovered the melons in his estate, he had tried to use his blood to improve the rice that had always been grown in Jiangnan in the same way. He dared to hand it over after repeated tests. The output had roughly doubled, and the taste was better than before. Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t dare to change too much, and he had only given a few limited rations to the outside world in the past few years, mainly to solve the problem of food. If he changed too much, even a fool could see that something was wrong. When Fu Zhiyu promoted these seeds to Lin Yan, he only said that they were coming from the imperial family and that he got them because he had a good relationship with the emperor, but this matter had to be kept secret from the outside world. If you disclosed it, it was a matter of losing your head. Advertisements Lin Yan usually talked very little, and he was even more silent about this matter. When others asked, he didn¡¯t mention a word. When he was tired of being asked, he slowly said: ¡°The bodhisattva gave it.¡± Fu Zhiyu¡¯s concern was not only Jiangnan. The staple foods he had changed included rice, wheat and barley. In fact, he also changed two kinds of potatoes and sweet potatoes, but these two things were rarely planted before, and few people knew what they were like. His estate originally planted the melons, and he also asked to share them. The production of staple foods had increased, and more labourers could be freed from the fields to do other jobs. People were mobile, and when you did well in agriculture, you also had the basis to do other things. Yuan Mingdao sent him a few new horses, delivered to the stables a long time ago, so that it was convenient for Fu Zhiyu to travel around Jiangnan. They were all rare Ferghana horses, and everyone liked them when seeing them. The gifts from the Yuan family were also abundant. The two elders and the two uncles, Yuan Xi and Yuan Lu, never mind gold, silver and jewellery, also sent some household things, such as the hat that Yuan Xi specially sewed for him. When she delivered it, she said: ¡°When my father and I were stationed at the border, the people over there wore hats like this, covering their ears and the back of their necks. It¡¯s warm. You go out every day in winter, so don¡¯t freeze.¡± Yuan Xi had already given birth to twins a few years ago, a boy and a girl. They came with their mother to give Fu Zhiyu the gifts, dressed like dolls in the New Year painting. ¡°Uncle goes out!¡± ¡°It¡¯s warm!¡± They echoed their mother¡¯s words and giggled together. In addition to the people Fu Zhiyu knew, there were more birthday gifts from people he didn¡¯t know. Some were handed over by the governors of various cities. There were also all kinds of things, including eggs laid by the hens at home, purses embroidered by young girls, and plaques with inscriptions that said: the most excellent official. These were gifts from the people who probably didn¡¯t have any fancy words to say in praise, so they wrote it in a bold and straightforward way. Everyone could see the changes in Jiangnan, and they knew who had done it. From the beginning of the medicine tent and porridge tent, things changed little by little. Now the medicine tent was still being set up, but the porridge tent was almost no longer used. Now in Jiangnan, people with hands and feet could always find a job. Not only had the taxes and rent been reduced a lot, but the food was also better than before. In fact, Fu Zhiyu was not so busy anymore. Many things had already made great progress, and people would move on their own. Sometimes, there was no need for him to care about it anymore. The governors of several cities in Jiangnan had been replaced in the past four years, except for the most important Luanzhou, where Fu Zhiyu served as the governor himself. Fu Zhiyu said that he wanted to conduct his own imperial examinations in Jiangnan, and he did so. Now it had been held for two years in a row. Zhang Lin, who was hiding in the village and teaching, hesitated for a year, and finally came out to participate. Nowadays, he was the magistrate in the county where the village was located. He was very good at his job. Not only could the children of the village learn to write and learn a craft; now he could make a difference to the lives of many more people. A lot of talents had been selected in the imperial examinations. Unlike before, most of them were young and thriving, eager to show off their skills. Many things could be left to them to do. Fu Zhiyu wanted to roughly reach a proportion. In fact, he didn¡¯t dare to do too much. As the saying goes, the times have their limitations. Even if there was a change in technology, you couldn¡¯t become fat in one bite. Many things had to be done step by step. This length of time was not one year or two years, or even five years or ten years. It took a decade or even a century to digest. The things he could do were actually limited. If you did too much, sometimes it wasn¡¯t good. Now, it was time to slow down and digest slowly. Moreover, it was not enough for Jiangnan to change. Fu Zhiyu had already received a letter from the capital a few days ago. After the start of spring, there would be new guests in Jiangnan. CH 90 After the start of spring, there were indeed several carriages coming from the north, in different styles. Now it was the day when the dragon raised its head, and the temple fair was lively. The difference from a few years ago was that there were more stalls on the street, and everyone had a more sincere smile on their faces. After all, life was indeed much better than in previous years. At present, Jiangnan¡¯s position as the pivot of the entire continent was more obvious. It was not surprising that people came here. There were a lot of carriages of all kinds, and nowadays a luxurious carriage entering Luanzhou wouldn¡¯t even attract much attention. After all, no matter who it was, he wouldn¡¯t dare to cause trouble in Jiangnan. A few years ago, Chen and Jing were merged into Jilin. Although they still had their monarch families, they were actually completely controlled by Jilin. The barbarians and the ancient kingdoms of the Western Regions also became more and more peaceful. Jiangnan was a very special place in the whole continent, and since the appointment of the King of Jiangnan, the imperial family of Jilin had never managed it anymore. Not only did they not manage it, they also had a lot of respect for Fu Zhiyu. Today, after waiting at the residence, Fu Zhiyu welcomed the person inside the carriage. He hadn¡¯t seen Fu Yanxi for a long time. It turned out that the originally nerdy boy had also grown up a lot. He was taller and looked more elegant, but some things still hadn¡¯t changed. After Fu Yanxi got out of the carriage, he first saluted Fu Zhiyu in a regular manner, and then said with a smile: ¡°I haven¡¯t seen Wang Zhao for a long time, but Wang Zhao¡¯s style is still the same.¡± He was now also a Wang and also had an official position in the Grand Secretariat. According to the rules, he did have to salute when he came to Jiangnan. ¡°Forget it,¡± Fu Zhiyu waved his hand and said, ¡°On this occasion, you don¡¯t need to be so polite. I received a letter from the emperor saying that there were envoys from the imperial city. At first, I planned to set up a banquet outside, but I heard that it was you, so I thought that since we¡¯re brothers, there¡¯s no need to go to all that trouble. Let¡¯s just set up a banquet at home. Mother also said it was not easy for you to come here, and she wanted to cook a few dishes for you.¡± When Fu Yanxi heard this, his whole body relaxed a lot, and his upturned face showed a simple smile, just like when he was a child. ¡°Good, oh,¡± he said, ¡°I haven¡¯t seen the widowed Imperial Noble Consort Yun for a long time. I miss her quite a bit.¡± With that said, he asked the servant to carry out a large box from the back of the carriage. ¡°I brought gifts for both my imperial brother and the Imperial Consort,¡± he said. ¡°There is the qin of the Imperial Consort inside. You left in a hurry last time and didn¡¯t take it with you. This qin is the best in the palace. Except for the Imperial Noble Consort Yun, the other people are not worthy of it.¡± ¡°Come in,¡± Fu Zhiyu said, ¡°Mother will be happy when she sees it.¡± Advertisements Fu Yanxi had really come here on business. The changes in Jiangnan were obvious to everyone; he was here to learn things by order of the emperor. Besides he had to record them and write them down to pass them on to future generations. The changes in farming tools and facilities such as waterwheels could be used widely, not only for the benefit of Jiangnan, but also for the benefit of the rest of the country. But this step should not be left to Fu Zhiyu; Fu Yanran was the emperor and this was his responsibility. Fu Zhiyu was quite willing to share these things. Fu Yanxi didn¡¯t come alone. He also brought craftsmen. Those craftsmen were to contact the craftsmen of the Lin family. Fu Yanxi, who was in charge of taking notes, followed Fu Zhiyu and looked left and right for a few days, having an eye-opening experience. Fu Yanxi also reminded him: ¡°The barbarian King Xidan will be here in a few days as well. It¡¯s not a problem for the Jiangnan Lin family to farm on their territory. The barbarian area is so big that it¡¯s already very good to be able to grow things there. But later he heard that the Lin family actually got the seeds from you, and the yield was getting better and better in the past few years, so he couldn¡¯t sit still.¡± King Xidan knew about the barley seeds. After all, it was his territory, and everything passed through his hands, but this wasn¡¯t enough. When it came to the canal, the section in Jilin had actually been almost dug up. The reason why efficiency could be so fast was really not due to Fu Zhiyu, but due to Fu Yanran¡¯s efforts. Moreover, not only ordinary people, but the army also joined. With more people and more power, efficiency increased exponentially. ¡°In fact, everyone knows who did this.¡± Fu Yanxi, who had eaten enough at the dinner table, looked more relaxed as he had become accustomed to the surroundings in the past few days. In Fu Zhiyu¡¯s house, he dared to say anything, ¡°The young General Xie Ke. Back then, after the emperor ascended the throne, he retreated. At that time, the whole capital knew about his injury and he didn¡¯t show up much after he got better. Many people outside said that he was dead, and the Xie family didn¡¯t even clarify it. Even the emperor rarely saw him, once in half a year or so. I don¡¯t know where he spent so much time.¡± Fu Zhiyu¡¯s hand holding the wine glass paused slightly. He changed the subject subtly: ¡°Then¡­ how are you getting along with the emperor? Is he doing well?¡± ¡°Very well. We are the monarch and the subject on the surface, but we are still brothers in private,¡± Fu Yanxi said. ¡°He hasn¡¯t changed much. He does what he has to do seriously, and he is very busy. Sometimes he negotiates with Prime Minister Shen all night, and he can¡¯t have a good sleep for several days. In the past few years, on the contrary, General Xie relaxed a lot. He is also getting older and slowly returning some power to the emperor. The two get along very well. Now Jilin does look a lot better than before. Before I came, Prime Minister Shen wanted to follow, but he had too many things on his hands and couldn¡¯t leave. And more importantly, he looked¡­ as if he didn¡¯t dare to come. He told me that you probably didn¡¯t want to see him, so he just asked me to tell him when I came back if you were doing well.¡± Fu Yanxi didn¡¯t understand the relationship between Fu Zhiyu and these people very clearly, and he didn¡¯t want to understand. Sometimes it was better to be confused. Fu Zhiyu drank the wine and then faintly responded: ¡°Actually, it¡¯s fine. Tell him that I have forgotten the previous things a long time ago.¡± Advertisements In the past few days, Fu Yanxi had almost finished writing down everything, so he invited Fu Zhiyu to take a look at the canal. The canal to be dug in Jiangnan was not long, only a short section, and more was still outside Jiangnan. Fu Zhiyu was very willing to accept this invitation. The canal that had been dug up so far was not the end. There was a longer section in the plan to the north, where the barbarians lived. It was not something that Jilin could decide, and it was still under negotiation. Therefore, this time King Xidan came to Jiangnan with many tasks. Although this man had a weird temper and didn¡¯t play cards according to common sense, he was a king after all, and he also had to consider the development of the barbarian grassland. The barbarians lived in the north, the land was barren, and the climate was very bad. Many supplies were scarce, and the roads were difficult to travel, making transportation extremely complicated. The improved barley seeds and wheat seeds given by Fu Zhiyu saved many lives, and King Xidan took notice. This person had many useful things in his hands. This was the first time King Xidan had come to Jiangnan, and when he faced Fu Zhiyu this time, he didn¡¯t have his previously sloppy look. ¡°Sure enough, the water and soil are good, something we the barbarians can only envy,¡± he said with emotion. ¡°When I looked at you back then, I knew that you must have been hiding something, not as simple as you seemed on the surface. None of you Fu imperial family are fuel-saving lamps (easy to deal with).¡± Fu Zhiyu smiled and said, ¡°I¡¯ll take your words as a compliment.¡± ¡°It is a compliment,¡± King Xidan glanced at him, ¡°Hiding many secrets and astonishing, truly impressive.¡± Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t have any extra expression in reply to this compliment. He just smiled and said, ¡°I would also like to thank King Xidan for helping me back then, otherwise I wouldn¡¯t be able to control them.¡± ¡°You mean the Qian family?¡± King Xidan remembered with a little smile on his face, ¡°Actually, it has nothing to do with me, you know, Xie Ke did it.¡± Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t say anything. ¡°I¡¯m really curious about what happened between you two,¡± King Xidan looked at him, ¡°It¡¯s all like this, still no progress?¡± ¡°¡­Are you digging the canal or not?¡± ¡°Dig, dig, dig!¡± King Xidan responded smoothly. Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t want to talk about this topic, so he closed his mouth, but the interest in his eyes became heavier. Together, they went to see the canal dug in other places except Jiangnan. On the way, Fu Zhiyu also met Deng Jinghe. He was responsible for the docks along the river. The setting point of the dock was also very important. After the dock was built, it was the matter of which way the goods would go, and even what shops would be suitable for opening around the dock. In fact, Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t know Deng Jinghe well; they were not even acquaintances. It was just that Deng Jinghe stared at him for a long time, then turned away and lowered his head to go on doing what he was doing. Deng Jinghe¡¯s affairs were actually a family matter of the Deng family for Fu Zhiyu. Back then, Fu Zhiyu told Deng Qian about the situation and asked him to make his own decision. ¡°Your family education is really not good, you have to admit this,¡± Fu Zhiyu said. ¡°One son was educated to have more abilities and insufficient virtues, and in the end, he even wanted to kill his father. The other son is deficient in ability and talent. Although he didn¡¯t try to harm you, if you hand over your family business to him, you will be indirectly killed by him in the future. Therefore, I tell you these things because I want you to choose for yourself. People say that the son¡¯s shortcomings are the faults of the father. It¡¯s your responsibility, I won¡¯t do anything to the two of them on your behalf. I just leave it to you. Do it yourself.¡± Deng Jinghe was different from the previous life. Now that he had no family business and no other background, it was easy for Deng Qian to control him. Deng Qian felt that, in fact, he was actually at fault before. When the child was born, he should have been responsible for him. The family had always paid little attention to Deng Jinghe, and had always told him that the family¡¯s business would not give him a single coin. With such a difference in treatment, anyone would have crooked thoughts in his heart. ¡°Children are our debt collectors,¡± Deng Qian sighed, ¡°It¡¯s time for me to pay off my debts.¡± He had restrained some of his romantic temperament, and while strictly disciplining his son from the main wife, he also gave Deng Jinghe some opportunities. Of course, Deng Qian still kept an eye on his movements, afraid that he might come up with something he couldn¡¯t control. But he didn¡¯t expect Deng Jinghe to be very obedient afterwards, doing everything he was given to do, and doing everything beautifully. If it hadn¡¯t been for that incident, perhaps Deng Qian would have given him more of the family business. Every family has its own difficulties. For the time being it was fine, so Fu Zhiyu stopped caring. In this free world, too many things have changed, and this one in front of him was just a trivial one. CH 91 ¡°Once the canal is opened, it will be a major project for the benefit of the country and the people. Firstly, for trade, and secondly, for flood control. Thirdly, it is for drainage and irrigation of the surrounding fields, and fourthly, it is also a business. Digging ponds by the river can raise fish and grow water caltrops,¡± Fu Zhiyu, accompanying King Xidan, looked around with emotion. ¡°It was not easy to dig it to this level in a few years.¡± King Xidan was also watching very seriously. From time to time, he touched here and there. Not to mention the others, the irrigation problem on the grassland was indeed a problem that he had been distressed about for a long time. If he could build a canal, it would naturally be good. The canal was very long, and for Fu Zhiyu and his party it took at least three or four days to make this journey. This was just a cursory look at the route. If one took a more detailed look, it would take even longer. ¡°When it¡¯s open, it will be very different,¡± Fu Zhiyu said, ¡°and we can plant willows along the river, so it will be a sight to see.¡± The first few days were pretty good; the plans that King Xidan had seen were pretty much worked out. He had a rough idea in his mind where the canal was going to be built and how many cities it would pass through along the way. But in the end, they met someone they hadn¡¯t seen for a long time. Since four years ago, after Xie Ke had been discovered by Fu Zhiyu, he really hadn¡¯t been to Jiangnan honestly. Anyway, Fu Zhiyu hadn¡¯t encountered anything strange, so he assumed that Xie Ke hadn¡¯t come back. This time, could it be a coincidence? When he saw Xie Ke, Fu Zhiyu was standing on the edge of the canal. After all, the canal hadn¡¯t been opened yet. The last section was still being dug and the workers were still sweating there. Fu Zhiyu also went to see the workers¡¯ food. There were big steamed buns and stir-fried vegetables. He also asked for a little to eat himself. Although it was not exquisite, it had the flavour of farm food. However, the food here was more spicy. After taking a few bites, Fu Zhiyu couldn¡¯t eat it anymore and drank several mouthfuls of water. ¡°If you can¡¯t eat spicy food, don¡¯t eat it. Do you really need to experience this?¡± King Xidan glanced at him, and then pointed not far away to show him, ¡°There is another person as strange as you, take a look.¡± When Fu Zhiyu heard this, he glanced in the direction King Xidan was pointing, and saw Xie Ke. There were also some soldiers digging the canal. Their task was not only to work, but also to maintain order. Xie Ke was sitting in the middle of the group of people, dressed very simply. Fu Zhiyu hadn¡¯t paid attention and didn¡¯t even know he was there. If King Xidan¡¯s eyes weren¡¯t so sharp and he didn¡¯t love to watch the excitement at the expense of others so much, Fu Zhiyu wouldn¡¯t have noticed Xie Ke. He was like an ordinary soldier, eating and living with the others, gnawing on buns with his head down without looking aggrieved at all. It seemed that he felt Fu Zhiyu¡¯s gaze. Xie Ke quickly looked up at him and seemed to be stunned for a while, then stood up and walked towards Fu Zhiyu, almost trotting all the way. King Xidan felt that he had done his part, and now it was time to watch the show, so he quickly stepped aside. Advertisements While Xie Ke walked towards Fu Zhiyu, he took advantage of this little time on the way to clean up a little bit, but he was digging the canal, covered in dirt, and he couldn¡¯t clean himself up in such a short period of time. Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t eat much spicy food. The food of the canal workers didn¡¯t look spicy, and it seemed fine when he ate it, but the aftertaste was lingering. The more time passed, the more spicy it felt. His throat was burning and he couldn¡¯t drink enough water to put down the fire. There was also a lot of dust on the side of the river, and he coughed from time to time, looking a little embarrassed. It was indeed a bit awkward for the two of them to meet in this situation. Xie Ke rushed up to him and didn¡¯t know what to say. ¡°I¡­¡± Xie Ke was silent for a while. He missed Zhiyu so much and he couldn¡¯t help but look at him; but he didn¡¯t dare to look at him either. In the end, he only said, ¡°I didn¡¯t expect you to come here. I¡¯m sorry, I didn¡¯t make any preparations.¡± Fu Zhiyu looked at him: ¡°What preparations were you going to make?¡± ¡°Zhiyu, you don¡¯t want to see me?¡± Xie Ke said nervously and couldn¡¯t help explaining, ¡°I don¡¯t usually come here, but the construction period is approaching, and someone must be watching. I don¡¯t feel comfortable with others, so I came by myself. I didn¡¯t expect you to be here.¡± Fu Zhiyu: ¡°¡­¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯m not that unreasonable,¡± he said. ¡°You can go wherever you want. I don¡¯t care about this. Today is just a coincidence. Why do you have to act like you¡¯ve seen a raging beast?¡± After Fu Zhiyu said these words, he was silent for a while, and then said, ¡°I know that it was you who did most of the work to arrange this. It¡¯s only right that you come and keep an eye on it.¡± He really knew very well that it was indeed Xie Ke who did all this. Xie Ke finally breathed a sigh of relief when he heard that. He felt that he had been busy for so long, doing his best, and it had come to fruition. ¡°When the canal is opened, you won¡¯t have to worry anymore,¡± Xie Ke said, ¡°The thing you worry about will not happen again.¡± Fu Zhiyu glanced at him, and happened to run into the flattering and cautious look in his eyes. He thought that Xie Ke probably knew why he originally wanted to build this canal. After all, he was one of the few people who knew. ¡°When the canal is opened, can you come and see it?¡± Xie Ke plucked up the courage to ask him, ¡°¡­so that I wasn¡¯t working in vain.¡± He waited anxiously for Fu Zhiyu¡¯s reply, staring at him intently. Fu Zhiyu thought for a while, then nodded and said, ¡°Okay.¡± He wanted to witness all this, and it didn¡¯t matter if Xie Ke was there or not. The two of them didn¡¯t talk anymore, walking past each other. Only King Xidan smacked his lips, not tasting anything. ¡°Look at it,¡± he looked at Xie Ke¡¯s back, and then said with emotion to Fu Zhiyu, ¡°He will be like this in front of you.¡± Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t answer. King Xidan saw that he obviously didn¡¯t want to talk, so he shut up sensibly. But Fu Zhiyu clearly felt his inquiring gaze that was getting stronger and stronger. Over time, he couldn¡¯t stand it, and said, ¡°Stop looking, just say what you want to say.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not even curious about what happened between you two. I really want to ask, what outcome are you trying to seek now that you¡¯re spending time like this?¡± King Xidan asked him, ¡°Look, Xie Ke is not getting married, and you are not getting married either, you two don¡¯t actually see anyone else. Just get along and get it done, why toss around like this?¡± ¡°Who said that a person must get married? I¡¯m fine on my own,¡± Fu Zhiyu retorted. ¡°Besides, not everything is about seeking an outcome. Most of the time, it is about no longer being able to understand each other, so let it be.¡± Take his own mother as an example; in fact, he had known about Lin Yan¡¯s feelings for a long time. His mother should have also known. Lin Yan would run to the mansion every day for trivial things. Occasionally, when he met Fu Zhiyu¡¯s mother, he wouldn¡¯t know where to put his hands and feet, and he would stammer when he spoke. Even a fool should be able to notice. Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t care; it was entirely his mother¡¯s choice. Although his mother had the title of the Imperial Noble Consort, Emperor Qingyuan had been dead for many years. If his mother really wanted to, there were ways to go. The problem was his mother didn¡¯t want to. She was already very tired of this kind of relationship, and she just felt weary and troubled by Lin Yan¡¯s advances. Yuan Wanyun¡¯s mood was very similar to Fu Zhiyu¡¯s. This mood couldn¡¯t be explained to others; probably only the two of them understood it. Advertisements On the day the canal opened, Fu Zhiyu went to see it as agreed, and also met Xie Ke. But he somehow felt that Xie Ke looked much more haggard than before. The last time he saw Xie Ke, he was dirty and grimy. But today, Xie Ke put on formal clothes, and yet the tiredness on his face couldn¡¯t be concealed. He even took the initiative to explain to Fu Zhiyu: ¡°There were too many things when the canal was opened, and I haven¡¯t slept for a few days.¡± But he didn¡¯t look like he hadn¡¯t rested well. Fu Zhiyu glanced at him and noticed that he already had grey hair at his temples. The two of them were not standing close, but Fu Zhiyu could still see it clearly. At Xie Ke¡¯s age, grey hair was nothing. Most of the courtiers were more or less white-headed, stressed and busy; but Xie Ke was not an ordinary person. He was not from this world, and it stood to reason that this world wouldn¡¯t let him age. Fu Zhiyu, an abnormal data, had not changed in the past few years. Even the people who took his pills, his mother and the Yuan family, had not changed, but Xie Ke had changed. ¡­I don¡¯t know what he has done. Fu Zhiyu lowered his eyes, and then reacted as if it was all none of his business. This summer, it did rain heavily, but the repaired dams and the canal played a big role. The disastrous flood didn¡¯t happen, but because of the heavy rain, several villages in low-lying areas were affected by the disaster, as well as some crops. But the court¡¯s disaster relief was strong, and the relief money and relief food arrived soon, and nothing went wrong in the end. Fu Zhiyu¡¯s nightmare no longer happened. Since then, he felt a lot more relaxed and at ease. After another five years, the Deng family¡¯s ship was finally built. When the ship was launched, Fu Zhiyu was there, and this time he saw Deng Jinghe again. The man had tanned considerably and still stared at him for a long time, but this time, he came up to talk. ¡°Thank you,¡± he said. ¡°Next year, I plan to take the merchant fleet to sea. This ship is doing very well. I¡¯m sorry for the previous things. Now that I think about it, at that time, I was really too narrow-minded and harmed others and myself. There was really no point in bringing in intrigue and trickery.¡± Going to sea meant leaving this continent to see the outside world. The risk was great. Even Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t know what else was outside this continent. The original book only wrote a sentence at the end, saying that the fleet sent a message and there were other continents out there. The road to the future was lying ahead. This was an invitation to write about it if someone wanted to, but it could hardly be expected that someone would really try it now. ¡°I used to like you. I looked at you once back then and thought about you for many years,¡± Deng Jinghe said. He smiled, ¡°But Xie Ke showed up. I knew I couldn¡¯t compete with him. It was hopeless. But I didn¡¯t expect that he wouldn¡¯t succeed either. Thinking about it now, I feel quite balanced mentally.¡± Fu Zhiyu: ¡°¡­¡­¡± Before he could answer, Deng Jinghe left, jumping onto the deck in a few steps. He used to be a little gloomy, but now he seemed to be a different person. Fu Zhiyu stood on the pier for a while, not knowing what he was thinking, and only after a long time did he leave. The four great merchants had all changed somewhat, and even the status of merchants had changed. Over the years, the matter of doing business was not so embarrassing in the eyes of the public anymore, with commerce flourishing in various places like spring shoots. On this basis, many schools could be opened. After all, everyone had enough to eat and had the energy to do other things. The school Fu Zhiyu wanted to set up was a comprehensive one, where people could study or learn a skill, and have many more options to choose from in the future. He had already found a group of teachers. He would try it in Jiangnan now, and if it was good, he would write a memorial to Fu Yanran. CH 92 When Fu Zhiyu was going out now, it was very different from when he first came to Jiangnan. Almost all the people in Luanzhou knew him and many people would stuff him with fruits and delicious food. When he was going out, it would not be an exaggeration to say that he was going to return with the carriage filled with fruit. Not only people in Jiangnan knew him, but people outside Jiangnan also knew him as the King of Jiangnan. When they mentioned his name, they would praise him as if he is a divine being that descended from the sky to the earth. There were also people who had written books about him, and in extreme cases there were even some temples erected. Yuan Jiangxing was worried about whether the emperor¡¯s attention would be attracted in this way, but Fu Yanran took the initiative to send a letter and comfort Fu Zhiyu, telling him not to think too much and just be normal. ¡°If you do well, people will praise you. The people¡¯s hearts are like a mirror. Imperial Brother doesn¡¯t have to think too much. If I didn¡¯t understand it, I wouldn¡¯t deserve to be the emperor. If you spend your days thinking about it, you won¡¯t have time to do anything.¡± But despite these words, Fu Zhiyu had gradually become more and more idle over the years. Most of the things he had done already met his own requirements, and anything more he could do, he could leave to others. Once, he took Mingdao and his mother out to play and went to Leicheng (Tear City) not far from Jiangnan. The moat curved around the city was shaped like a tear, and the canal was also connected here. When Fu Zhiyu went to see it at night, he saw that the willow trees by the river were decorated with lanterns, looking very beautiful. Leicheng was a small town. Fu Zhiyu took Yuan Wanyun shopping, looking at the shops and stalls on the side of the road. There was the largest jewellery shop by the road and his mother liked it very much. She chose several small ornaments and bought a piece of jade for Fu Zhiyu to hang on his waist. When they were paying, the shop owner came out. It was a woman in her thirties, but she didn¡¯t comb the hair at her temples in the style of a married woman. She only used the simplest hairpin to hold her hair, looking casual and beautiful. Fu Zhiyi took an unintentional look and was stunned for a while. This was Qiu Rong. It was just that Qiu Rong in front of him didn¡¯t know him. She was obviously surprised when their eyes met, but she didn¡¯t step forward, just lowered her head and smiled, and then went on with her own business at hand. She was not as young as in Fu Zhiyu¡¯s memory; the Qiu Ring with two buns on her head, always so happy, might have only lived in his memory. The person in front of him was proficient in what she was doing and looked relaxed and elegant. Fu Zhiyu was now older, but his appearance had basically not changed compared to ten years ago. He seemed to never change. When he looked at someone intently, he would appear even more attractive. When the time to settle the bill came, they were charged a lot less. The cashier smiled and said, ¡°Our shop owner sees that you are good-looking, and this jewellery also suits you, so she specially gave you a discount. Come back often in the future.¡± Fu Zhiyu: ¡°¡­good.¡± He must have been the only one who remembered the past between him and Qiu Rong. Mingdao was gone by that time, and Xie Ke only met her once, but he could hardly remember such a small maidservant. Advertisements Later, Fu Zhiyu took the time to inquire about Qiu Rong¡¯s affairs, only to learn that her real name was Lian Wan, so she probably changed her name after she entered the palace. She was also quite famous in Leicheng, probably because of her good business and her origin that many people knew. Lian Wan¡¯s father died early. Her mother was bullied by her brothers-in-law for a long time. They suffered a lot, their money was taken away and the family almost sold Lian Wan as a slave. Fortunately, at that time, the Qian family¡¯s textile factory expanded its scale to Leicheng and looked for weavers. After hearing the news, Lian Wan¡¯s mother took her away and went to work in the Qian family¡¯s weaving factory to escape her cannibalistic relatives and avoid the fate of her daughter being sold as a slave. Her mother worked in the Qian family¡¯s textile factory for many years. Lian Wan followed her and learned to read and write in the Qian family¡¯s school. She also became a student to a jewellery master there and learned to make hairpins. When she came back, she opened such a shop. After Lian Wan came back, she brought seven or eight thugs with her, and her uncles didn¡¯t dare to come to look for trouble again. She took her mother with her, became self-sufficient and earned a small fortune. Many people envied her, living so freely and chic. It was not that Fu Zhiyu hadn¡¯t looked for Qiu Rong before, but he didn¡¯t have much information about her back then, and he couldn¡¯t find out where she was from. He had asked Fu Yanran to help watch and let him know every time a new maid entered the palace, but Qiu Rong wasn¡¯t there. Now that he had met her here, perhaps it was fate. There was no Fu Zhiyu in Lian Wan¡¯s life, but when you looked into it carefully, there was him everywhere. It was a chance encounter, but in reality it was the inevitable result of all the occasional connections. In this situation, seeing that she was doing well, he didn¡¯t have to worry anymore. But after thinking about it, he still asked his subordinates to send a sum of money to the shop. ¡°Let¡¯s say the hairpin is very well made and my mother likes it very much,¡± Fu Zhiyu said, ¡°I also hope that the shop owner will get better and better in the future.¡± After leaving Leicheng, Fu Zhiyu rested for a long time. He no longer held the post of governor of Luanzhou and handed it over to other young people. The elder uncle and the younger uncle retired one after another, and the responsibility in their hands was handed over to their son-in-law and son, and they were finally living a life of leisure. Mingdao didn¡¯t cooperate with Yuan Lu anymore. He became independent and opened a bodyguard agency. His business was very good. After Fu Zhiyu became more and more silent, Mingdao became more famous, and no one regarded him simply as the guard of the King of Jiangnan, even though Mingdao himself was very satisfied with his identity. The entire continent wasn¡¯t merged into one country as in the original book. Although Jilin was now the strongest, Fu Yanran¡¯s behaviour in this regard was conservative. He didn¡¯t send troops to invade other countries, and the countries lived in harmony for many years. Even Southern Xinjiang had become more and more outgoing. Although there were occasional frictions between countries, they were all resolved quickly. The affairs between his mother and Lin Yan remained the same way, and Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t care about it. But as the time went on, he could see that his mother was still a little shaken. During the Qixi Festival, his mother went out with Lin Yan silently. Fu Zhiyu ate a bowl of hot noodle soup alone in the mansion, took a plate of osmanthus candy, and enjoyed the moon in the pavilion. Steward Zhou was too old. He had already retired and returned to his hometown some time ago. Now he was replaced with a new steward, also introduced by Steward Zhou. He was very similar to Steward Zhou and very thorough in everything. But maybe because Steward Zhou was old, had a bad memory and had too many things to explain, he forgot to tell the new steward a lot of things. For example, you can¡¯t buy things in the pastry shop that looks to be doing a good business not far from the mansion, even if the master really likes to eat osmanthus candy from there. Advertisements Before, it was fine, but it was fashionable to eat osmanthus cake and osmanthus candy in Jiangnan during the Qixi Festival. After the steward bought it, he also talked about it with Fu Zhiyu: ¡°The shop said that Wang Zhao doesn¡¯t need to give money to buy things there. I tried to make them take the money but they didn¡¯t want it.¡± The steward didn¡¯t find this matter difficult to understand. Wang Zhao had a very high reputation in Jiangnan. If Fu Zhiyu went shopping by himself, forget about paying, there would be a lot of people trying to give him anything he wanted. Fu Zhiyu: ¡°¡­Okay, I see.¡± Other than that, he didn¡¯t say anything. The moon of the Qixi Festival was actually nothing to look at. After watching it for so many years, it hadn¡¯t changed much. Fu Zhiyu felt very bored after watching it for a long time. At this point, it was still very lively outside. He thought for a while, found a clean bag, put osmanthus candy into it, and then went outside to join the fun, eating while walking. He was still very popular. The young girls smiled and handed him peach blossom branches, but Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t dare to pick them up and politely escaped. I will have to marry her if I pick it up. Fu Zhiyu avoided the crowd and strolled to the river by himself. Many people put river lanterns on the water there. He also asked for one. He took a brush and thought for a while, but he couldn¡¯t think of what else he wanted that had not yet come true. He looked around for a long time and all he could think of was that everyone was happy and cheerful. In the end, there was nothing written on his river lantern, so he put it on the water and it floated away with the current. He walked around for a while by himself. It was getting late, and almost everyone went back. Finally, he returned to the place where he had put his river lantern and saw another river lantern slowly floating past. It was also empty, and there was no wish written on it. Now there were only two people on the bank of the river. Fu Zhiyu followed the lantern and looked over and saw Xie Ke standing up slowly. His movements were so slow that when Fu Zhiyu saw his face, he had a very unreal feeling. Fu Zhiyu had hardly changed in the past few years, but Xie Ke had changed a lot. His hair was half white and his face looked much older. He was obviously just a few years older than Fu Zhiyu, but the two of them looked like two different generations. ¡°You, what¡¯s wrong?¡± Fu Zhiyu couldn¡¯t help but ask him. ¡°It¡¯s fine,¡± Xie Ke said, ¡°This body will grow old, and I¡¯ve also reached this age.¡± Fu Zhiyu gave a soft ¡°oh¡±, indicating that he understood, and the two fell silent together while Xie Ke walked up to him. ¡°Shall we walk together?¡± He said, ¡°I haven¡¯t actually seen this section of the canal in Jiangnan.¡± Fu Zhiyu thought for a while but didn¡¯t refuse and nodded. Xie Ke was holding a lantern in his hand, and the two of them walked slowly along the river. There was no one on the road. Xie Ke remained silent, but Fu Zhiyu spoke first. ¡°I was thinking, if it weren¡¯t for you, this canal wouldn¡¯t be so good.¡± Xie Ke shook his head and said, ¡°I just helped a little bit, it was mainly Fu Yanran and you.¡± Without Fu Zhiyu, Xie Ke would naturally not care about the canal, but he actually misunderstood what Fu Zhiyu meant. Fu Zhiyu recalled that if it hadn¡¯t been for Xie Ke to clean up the Deng family and the Qian family back then, even if he had a way to deal with them, it would have taken a long time, and needless to say, there would be intrigues. He was angry and willing to put in the effort to do these things, but if he spent most of his time on it, he wouldn¡¯t necessarily have that much time to look at the Jiangnan documents, and after teaching these two families a lesson, he would have probably found the fighting really pointless and would have gone back to his life in seclusion. As for the others, he wouldn¡¯t have had time to notice. Fu Zhiyu felt that there was both chance and necessity in his emotional transformation, and it was undeniably a good kind of chance that Xie Ke did appear at that time. This section of the canal was not long. When they got to the corner, there was a wall blocking the way, requiring them to backtrack and make a big detour to pick up where they left off. ¡°That¡¯s it for today,¡± Fu Zhiyu said. ¡°If you still want to see it in the future, go and see it by yourself.¡± Xie Ke lowered his head and nodded. Fu Zhiyu walked back and Xie Ke followed, the lantern in his hand swaying, illuminating the road for him. Fu Zhiyu arrived home after a while. He stood in front of the gate and watched Xie Ke stand there staring at him blankly. ¡°You go back.¡± He said. Xie Ke didn¡¯t leave; he put the lantern aside, took a few steps forward and gently hugged him. Fu Zhiyu froze and didn¡¯t push him away for a while. ¡°Zhiyu,¡± he heard Xie Ke say to him in his ear, in a voice that only two people could hear, ¡°I love you.¡± Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t answer. Xie Ke didn¡¯t hold him for a long time. He let go and stared at Fu Zhiyu again. There was an undefinable meaning in his eyes. Fu Zhiyu thought he was going to say something, but he just kept repeating: ¡°¡­I love you.¡± Fu Zhiyu lowered his head, gave a soft ¡°en¡±, and then said, ¡°I see.¡± This probably couldn¡¯t be considered a response. ¡°Thank you.¡± Fu Zhiyu added another sentence; other than that, he didn¡¯t know what else to say to him. Xie Ke let go of his hand. He seemed to have thought about something clearly because of these words, smiled at Fu Zhiyu and then watched him walk into the mansion, standing in front of the gate for a long time before leaving. Fu Zhiyu had never seen him since then. He never received another message from the Lord God again either. Sometimes when he thought of those things, he felt a little strange. Fu Zhiyu stayed in this world for a shorter time than he expected. Sometimes he looked in the mirror and couldn¡¯t tell how old he was, let alone see any signs of ageing. He thought he would live like a monster for a long time, but in fact he didn¡¯t. When he saw all his cherished people leave, his desire to stay in this world wasn¡¯t so strong. But he still didn¡¯t expect it when he left. One morning, he felt tired, and when he turned around, he felt different. He felt that he was gradually floating up, and there was a dazzling white light in front of him. When the white light dissipated, he couldn¡¯t see anything clearly but he heard the sound first. It was the sound of the Lord God¡¯s space. This was the place where the master brain was located. There was often a beeping prompt sound, as well as a low mechanical-like rumble. ¡°You are finally back,¡± Fu Zhiyu heard the voice of the Lord God again, ¡°Zhiyu, I have been waiting for you for a long time.¡± CH 93 Fu Zhiyu covered his eyes, feeling that the sudden light was stinging painfully. He slowly rubbed his eyes for a long time before he could see everything in front of him clearly. Sure enough, it was the Lord God¡¯s space. ¡°¡­Why did I come back here again?¡± He looked around, looked down at his hands and feet and muttered to himself, ¡°What happened?¡± ¡°You were supposed to be here,¡± the Lord God said. It was usually strict with actors and systems, but it was much softer towards Fu Zhiyu, ¡°Zhiyu, come with me, I have something to tell you.¡± Fu Zhiyu could only follow the Lord God, his mind gradually regaining its clarity. Walking in this space, he felt both familiar and unfamiliar. After a while, he couldn¡¯t help but ask: ¡°Then, how is the world of ¡®His Name Will Live On in History¡¯?¡± ¡°After you and Xie Ke left that world, it returned to normal,¡± the Lord God said. ¡°It should have returned to normal a long time ago, but there was a delay.¡± Fu Zhiyu knew that it was originally a mission world that had been completed. If Xie Ke hadn¡¯t rebooted it, it should have returned to its proper track and developed freely and uncontrollably in the future. ¡°Of course, there are still some changes,¡± the Lord God said, ¡°The changes you made to that world are different from the original book. Maybe there will be new developments in that world, but these are minor issues.¡± Fu Zhiyu remembered that the Lord God had described the world as a time-bomb before, and he couldn¡¯t help but ask one more question: ¡°Isn¡¯t it a threat to the stability of the system?¡± ¡°Not for a long time,¡± the voice of the Lord God was very calm, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, come with me, I will explain it to you.¡± After listening to this sentence, Fu Zhiyu felt a little relieved. He lowered his head while thinking; he couldn¡¯t help feeling a little sad, but he also knew in his heart that everything should have had an end. They finally walked to the small room where the master brain was, the Lord God stopped, then let Fu Zhiyu sit down, and suddenly asked him: ¡°Do you have any knowledge of this world?¡± Knowledge? Fu Zhiyu¡¯s knowledge of this entire acting world came from the Lord God and Xie Ke, and he didn¡¯t know much about the rest. ¡°What do you think is the top level of this world?¡± The Lord God felt that Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t seem to be able to answer well, so it changed the question. Fu Zhiyu thought for a while, then hesitantly said: ¡°You?¡± The Lord God smiled. Advertisements ¡°No, Zhiyu, you have to know that although this world is composed of novels, it has developed to such an extent that it is no longer possible to distinguish between real and false. It can be even said that it is no different from the original world that produced these books. Even if we were its derivatives at the beginning, but over time, many things changed,¡± the Lord God said, ¡°Outside of this world is the World Consciousness that is running all of this, and the World Consciousness is much higher than us. I and those systems, as well as actors, and many people inside the worlds, are actually the same. We are not superior or inferior, and no one is more noble than anyone else. For the World Consciousness, we are ants, worker bees. I am just its hired worker, too. We can¡¯t even communicate directly with the World Consciousness. Because we are at two different levels, when I sometimes communicate with the World Consciousness, it is very difficult, and it is always only a few words. These few words are mostly instructions, and there are not many explanations.¡± Speaking of this, the Lord God paused for a while, and then said: ¡°Most of the information transmitted by the World Consciousness during this period of time was about you.¡± ¡°About me?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± the Lord God asked him again, ¡°Zhiyu, do you think you are just a piece of data that can¡¯t be deleted?¡± Fu Zhiyu nodded calmly. He had tried to find the reason when he was in the system space before, but he didn¡¯t have a clue. This kind of thing couldn¡¯t be worked out, so he stopped thinking about it, just seeing it as the reality of the situation. ¡°I originally thought that too, but then I found out that you were not not, and it was the World Consciousness that reminded me of that.¡± The Lord God recalled what it had experienced, only to feel that the running programs in its mind were about to get stuck. In fact, the Lord God had always been aware of its status as a senior employee. Although the name ¡°Lord God¡± sounded nice, in fact, it only assumed management responsibilities, and sometimes it was just a loudspeaker. Its actual power was not very great, otherwise it would be impossible to be troubled by the actors for a long time and only rely on patches one by one to deal with them. If the Lord God really dominated everything, why would there be need for such trouble? In theory, the Lord God was the closest to the World Consciousness, except for one moment, when Xie Ke got the authority as the highest actor. At that time Xie Ke was the closest to the World Consciousness; Because his authority was not given by the Lord God; it was directly given to him by the World Consciousness. However, after that incident, strange things followed. First, there was a Fu Zhiyu that couldn¡¯t be deleted. When the Lord God transmitted this abnormal information to the World Consciousness, there was no response and there was no intention to solve the problem, so Fu Zhiyu¡¯s matter dragged on like this, and nothing could be done. Even though Fu Zhiyu was here, he was quite well-behaved. He stayed in the space, was just given some information to read usually, and was very easy to control and very obedient. But this was not the case with Xie Ke. After taking the authority, he was like crazy, making trouble everywhere. Although the Lord God was overwhelmed by him, it also found something wrong when dealing with him. Xie Ke¡¯s authority was incomplete; it had flaws, otherwise he wouldn¡¯t need to go to so much trouble. According to the understanding of the Lord God, Xie Ke¡¯s authority could have directly rebooted the world. But he didn¡¯t, because he couldn¡¯t do it. Instead, he struggled hard. ¡­What was the World Consciousness doing? Only after Xie Ke got what he wanted and rebooted the world did the Lord God receive a reply from the World Consciousness. This time the reply was longer than the previous one, as if to make up for the previous silence. It was also a long story for the World Consciousness. It had actually discovered a long time ago that there was a certain problem with the mechanism by which the actors now worked. This world was composed of books. The layout was completely created by the people of the source world. The playing worlds naturally followed the original books step by step at the beginning, and after the plot of the original books was completed, these worlds were relegated to the free worlds and left to their own devices. But while the plot of the original book was followed, accidents occasionally occurred, and actors appeared at this time to make up for the mistakes of the world. In the past, there had been no problems with this mechanism, but after the World Consciousness had watched it for a long time, it found that the worlds of the books were changing. This change was not that one or two people deviated from the plot, but that the whole changed. Advertisements The people in the worlds of the books were no longer two-dimensional paper people like they were at the beginning. They were getting more and more individual, had more and more ideas, and were more and more like real people, not even different from the people of the source world anymore. It was not hard to understand. Novels were originally projections of the real world. Every novel was more or less the shadow of the real world, and so were the characters in it. But the authors wouldn¡¯t spend effort on every character, not to mention that not every novel was a perfect novel. But the worlds were getting more and more real, so the two-dimensional characters in the novel were beginning to become flesh and blood. A normal person was inherently contradictory. There were few pure bad guys and pure good people. Among the ¡°villains¡± in the book, some people would hesitate, some people would be in pain, and some people would even give up when they were about to do something. And some ¡°decent¡± people occasionally had evil thoughts, not as flawless as the book said. For example, the vicious female character in a certain world had been bullying the little white flower heroine throughout the book. In fact, they only had a misunderstanding at the beginning. The vicious female character mistakenly thought that the heroine stole her things and hated her. Because of this misunderstanding, other contradictions occurred, and the two became incompatible. But in this world, when it actually happened, the villainess found out that the things she lost had actually fallen into the space between the bed and the wall because of a small accident. The initial misunderstanding was resolved; the villainess was still arrogant. She couldn¡¯t bow her head to apologise, but then, she didn¡¯t go crazy to harm the heroine either. This villainess was indeed of a bad character. She was very selfish and egotistical. She had never shown the slightest sign of becoming a good person because of this incident. After that, she still had a very bad attitude towards the heroine, and she hadn¡¯t even given the explanation about the theft. But she wouldn¡¯t do anything more excessive. The biggest difference between a person and a paper person was probably this. In the real world, no one would follow the rules, everyone would have changes and have their own ideas. The worlds in the book had also begun to produce the independent logic and emotions that they should have. Was this a bug? The World Consciousness said ¡°no¡±. Of course, the reality was not as extreme as the above example. The actions of a large part of people had not changed, otherwise the world would be in a mess, and no matter how many actors were involved, they couldn¡¯t save it. The vast majority of changes were in the way that made the emotions of the people more real. What the Lord God saw was that the actors were out of control, but what the World Consciousness saw was more. It felt that the worlds had changed, but the mechanisms of the actors had remained the same, and that this wasn¡¯t the way to go on. The World Consciousness was trying to find the reason. Perhaps there were too many completed mission worlds; after they became free, this uncontrolled consciousness infected the whole universe. But whatever the reason, the change was irreversible and the World Consciousness had to adapt to it. In this process, it saw some of the actors¡¯ coping methods, forcibly correcting the plot. Even if the bad guy wanted to be good, he wasn¡¯t allowed to be good, and the actor deliberately guided him to do evil like in the original book. Even if the good man was evil, the actor would do everything possible to cover him up. Because the people in the book were set up like this, and the book was written like this. If the actors didn¡¯t do this, there would be a risk of points deduction. They might be at fault, but it seemed that they couldn¡¯t be blamed. In the world of ¡°His Name Will Live On in History¡±, the original difficulty setting was advanced. It had to be carefully calculated but it wasn¡¯t particularly difficult for an advanced task. The reason why it became a super-advanced task, and also Xie Ke¡¯s highest authority upgrade task, was because it was the test world of the Lord God, mainly to deal with this new situation. On the one hand, the World Consciousness wanted to see what the actors would do in response to this situation, and on the other hand, it wanted to see if its ideas were correct. But an accident happened. The World Consciousness didn¡¯t expect such an accident. As soon as Xie Ke entered that world, things were out of its control. CH 94 It was said that it is a test world. It took a lot of time for the Lord God to set up a simulation environment in the world of ¡°His Name Will Live On in History¡±. The reason for choosing it was also because ¡°His Name Will Live On in History¡± had a good historical foundation. According to the World Consciousness¡¯s analysis, the ¡°vitality¡± of this world was much stronger than that of other worlds, which meant that the authenticity and personality of the characters inside would be much stronger, which fully met the screening criteria. But this foundation alone was not enough. The World Consciousness had put part of its own power into some of the main characters in this world. Shen Yang had it, and Yuan Mingdao also had, in order to make them do more things that were different from the original work. Fu Zhiyu, the villain, attracted the World Consciousness. It put a lot of its cognizance into Fu Zhiyu and spent more effort on him. But even this was not enough. It made this role an interference task and wanted to find an actor to create new difficulties. The World Consciousness interference with Fu Zhiyu¡¯s role in the mission was leaked out. It didn¡¯t care. This mission was very different from the previous interference mission. The actors thought they knew the situation and were caught off guard. This way, on the contrary, allowed the World Consciousness to better test Xie Ke¡¯s level and test whether he could get this authority. Obviously everything was ready, but when Xie Ke entered the world, everything changed. To be precise, Fu Zhiyu had changed. When the mission opened, the moment the character was ¡°lit up¡±, it was like a black hole, sucking up most of the World¡¯s Consciousness¡¯s layout and power left in that world, and the person who was given the task of playing the role couldn¡¯t take over, because this ¡°Fu Zhiyu¡± had absorbed so much that he almost became part of the World Consciousness. Fu Zhiyu completely deviated from the character that belonged to the original; he was a new ¡°person¡±, and very different compared to the other people in this world. Because of this accident, the original arrangement of the World Consciousness almost failed, and the character Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t live according to its original arrangement and was far from the original work. Xie Ke was supposed to have an alternative method of scoring the mission, and of course, his system would have received a reminder when he started the mission, but because of this accident, many of the arrangements didn¡¯t work. The World Consciousness: ¡°¡­¡­¡± Advertisements This could be regarded as its fault. It probably spent too much effort on the character Fu Zhiyu, and it was the first time it did this. Maybe it didn¡¯t control its sense of proportion and finally created this kind of accident, and it couldn¡¯t help it. The mission had already begun, and forced adjustment at this time might have caused the world to collapse, so this character was just allowed to go on. In all fairness, Xie Ke did a good job. He should have received another rating rule, but he didn¡¯t. In the end, he followed the original one. Fu Zhiyu¡¯s accident made the risk of deducting points in many aspects greater, and in many places points were deducted. Even so, Xie Ke still passed, indicating that he was indeed an excellent actor. But in the end, the World Consciousness didn¡¯t give him the authority it had originally promised, because the result was different from its imagination. However, except for one Xie Ke, none of the actors were able to withstand the test of the World Consciousness to that extent. Originally, the World Consciousness was waiting to see if Xie Ke could do it again, but it didn¡¯t expect this actor favoured by the World Consciousness would go crazy. Because of ¡°Fu Zhiyu¡±. The World Consciousness had received news from the Lord God, but it doesn¡¯t know how to reply. It was certain that ¡°Fu Zhiyu¡± couldn¡¯t be deleted. He was almost completely composed of the World Consciousness. In other words, he was part of the origin of this world, and he was one level higher than the master brain and the Lord God. How could he be deleted by them! The World Consciousness deeply regretted the entire self-inflicted mistake, but it didn¡¯t know how to solve it and it couldn¡¯t delete a part of itself. ¡°Zhiyu, I¡¯ve just told you that we are all hired workers of the World Consciousness. As for me, I¡¯m just a senior employee, but you are different. To use an appropriate and inappropriate metaphor, you are a child of the World Consciousness.¡± Fu Zhiyu: ¡°¡­¡­¡± He didn¡¯t have any expression of excitement, just a dawning realisation. It seemed that he was neither a bug nor a virus. His inexplicable strength and the blood in his body probably came from the World Consciousness. Advertisements The Lord God also knew what he was thinking, and explained: ¡°You didn¡¯t have it when you were in the mission world. It was because the mission world itself had restrictions, and the World Consciousness is not omnipotent. For example, after the mission starts, it can¡¯t make changes anymore, so you are the same. But after the world becomes a free world, it¡¯s different. You no longer have these restrictions on you. Zhiyu, you have also discovered that not only your blood was useful and your strength increased, but these two items were just the most external manifestations. The power of the World Consciousness in you is much more than that. And you are not the same as the World Consciousness. It has no specific image and cannot come to this world. It is just a managing existence. But you are different. You have a body. In other words, you can do anything. Zhiyu, the ability you were born with is already higher than mine and higher than the master brain¡¯s, but you don¡¯t know how to use it yet.¡± No wonder the Lord God wanted to find a place for him to sit down at the beginning. Fu Zhiyu looked at his hands and listened in shock. It took a while before he digested this amount of information. He really didn¡¯t think so much. After he left the world, he thought he would go back to the small room again, reading those never-ending books with no concept of time. But since the Lord God was telling him this now, it was probably not that simple. ¡°Then, what does the World Consciousness think of the matter of ¡®His Name Will Live On in History¡¯ rebooting?¡± Fu Zhiyu asked the Lord God, ¡°There is me and there is Xie Ke. At that time, you said that this world could easily have an impact on the overall stability, so it was very important. What about the World Consciousness, did it care?¡± ¡°It cared,¡± the Lord God said, ¡°Didn¡¯t I tell you at the beginning that the world of ¡®His Name Will Live On in History¡¯ should have returned to its normal track a long time ago?¡± After listening to this, Fu Zhiyu sensitively felt that this matter seemed to be different from what he understood at that time. ¡°When¡­ was it supposed to return to normal?¡± ¡°Its reboot was supported by Xie Ke. The time of its return to normal was naturally when Xie Ke couldn¡¯t support it anymore,¡± the Lord God said. ¡°You should remember, it was that arrow.¡± Fu Zhiyu naturally remembered, and his fingers curled up unconsciously. The Lord God said: ¡°It should have returned to normal at that time, but Xie Ke was underestimated by the World Consciousness. He was indeed an excellent actor, very good. Because the trauma was too serious, his body couldn¡¯t hold on for the time being. He had come back once. At about that time, he had some clues. He had some correct conjectures about your true identity, and he also had some guesses about the actions of World Consciousness.¡± ¡°¡­What guesses?¡± Fu Zhiyu asked. In fact, when he heard the beginning, he already had a faint sense of crisis, ¡°The World Consciousness should not tolerate accidents like me. The authority is too high to control.¡± The World Consciousness couldn¡¯t tolerate him, the ¡°child¡± who escaped inexplicably. The Lord God was silent for a while and said, ¡°Indeed, I don¡¯t deny that the World Consciousness wanted to delete you. To be precise, not to delete, it just wanted to take back its power. But it was not good to do this directly. After you and Xie Ke entered ¡®His Name Will Live On in History¡¯, it wanted to pack up the troubles and solve them together. When Xie Ke was at his weakest, it was indeed the best opportunity.¡± When Fu Zhiyu heard this, he clenched his fists tightly. Although the Lord God said that¡­ nothing happened. He lived in Jiangnan at that time, thinking that everything was fine, not knowing that the dark currents were raging outside. ¡°Delete the world of ¡®His Name Will Live On in History¡¯, maybe delete you along with it, take back part of your power, and then enter the initial data of that world again. Then it could be regarded as nothing ever happened,¡± the Lord God said. ¡°Xie Ke was actually not the goal of the World Consciousness. As an actor, he still could be controlled. The World Consciousness also had a use of him. He was temporarily out of the world at that time. Originally, Xie Ke could escape all of this.¡± Fu Zhiyu froze. When he heard this, he suddenly remembered that when he saw Xie Ke for the last time, he saw his white hair and his visibly aged face. ¡°Why didn¡¯t I know any of this?¡± Fu Zhiyu felt that his hands were shaking, ¡°I¡­¡± He originally felt that he and the Lord God were friends, and wanted to ask why it didn¡¯t let him know, but he quickly remembered that the Lord God was a responsible manager before it was his friend. ¡°Have you ever opened three red bloodstone boxes?¡± The Lord God asked him, ¡°This man Xie Ke really¡­ I don¡¯t know how to describe it. Maybe he was planning ahead. He was probably afraid that you would disappear again, so he used this. This thing¡­ it worked on you.¡± Fu Zhiyu had some memories. But at that time, he just felt that it was a boring thing Xie Ke did in his free time and deliberately used his curiosity to make him open three boxes just to see what he wrote in them. ¡°This is about the most advanced prop that the current actor can get. It¡¯s a transfer prop, a box that gives the actor a chance to escape obliteration. Of course, the effect is more than that, it all depends on how people use it. Xie Ke took it and reversed it. He relied on his high authority and high points to bind himself to you. Maybe he was afraid that you would disappear at that time,¡± the Lord God said, ¡°If it were only him, he would probably not be able to resist the World Consciousness. But Xie Ke was the first person to play this kind of role. Although he exchanged many things before, he still had residual power and he pulled almost half of the actors to make temporary resistance. He also relied on those three boxes to leave everything to you.¡± ¡°¡­What do you mean?¡± ¡°The World Consciousness also has operating rules. For example, it cannot delete you directly. For example, the actor can only be obliterated when the mission fails. This is the only way to die.¡± The mechanical voice of the Lord God was very calm, without any emotion. ¡°Xie Ke gave you his power through the links in those three boxes. If you were half an actor, it was useless for the World Consciousness to delete ¡®His Name Will Leave On in History¡¯, so nothing could be done. But you will have to come back one day. When Xie Ke¡¯s power is exhausted, which is now, you will come back.¡± Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t speak for a long time. When he uncovered the layers of truth and saw the reality hidden at the bottom, he knew what was going on behind the quiet years in the world in the book. ¡°You are very special now, half of you is the World Consciousness and half of you is the actor,¡± the Lord God said, ¡°It¡¯s a good thing. The World Consciousness was originally afraid that it wouldn¡¯t be able to control you at all, so it had to take back your power. But now that you have the identity of half of the actor, you have to be subject to some control, so that it can rest assured. Instead it feels good that you have such great innate conditions, and it¡¯s a pity not to use them. Now, it won¡¯t delete you because you can do many things for it.¡± ¡°¡­Where¡¯s Xie Ke?¡± ¡°Naturally, he disappeared,¡± the Lord God said, ¡°There is no longer Actor 027 in the system record.¡± CH 95 The Lord God wanted to say something else, but Fu Zhiyu couldn¡¯t listen anymore. He felt his ears buzzing. Why did he do this? Fu Zhiyu couldn¡¯t think clearly. He tried to recall the last time he saw Xie Ke. His memory of that night was actually very vague. He only remembered the hug and the words ¡°I love you¡±, and nothing more. He thought that this was the end for him and Xie Ke, and it was the best end he could think of at the time. The two of them let go, and if they met in the future, at best, they would just look at each other and smile. Forgetting each other in this world was perfect. But now that these things were uncovered, everything changed, and the seemingly peaceful ending was actually indescribable in retrospect. At this point in time, Fu Zhiyu wanted to ask Xie Ke what he was thinking, and why he was doing this. But there was only one thing he couldn¡¯t say. This time he couldn¡¯t tell Xie Ke that he didn¡¯t need to do it. If it weren¡¯t for Xie Ke¡¯s initiative, Fu Zhiyu wouldn¡¯t even have the opportunity to stand here. The Lord God left at some moment. Perhaps it saw Fu Zhiyu¡¯s inability to listen and felt that it was useless to say anything, so it left. The time here was very long, enough for Fu Zhiyu to think. Fu Zhiyu had always thought that he was a very open-minded person. Because of his complicated experience, he was always easy to let go of the wrongs that others had done to him, such as Shen Yang, such as Xie Ke before. He could let others wrong him, but he couldn¡¯t let himself wrong others. In other words, Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t like to owe others. He only had a few people he felt regrets about and owed, and he did everything possible to compensate them. If others treated him well, he would return the favour in double, whether they were family or friends. But he and Xie Ke were too entangled. Before Fu Zhiyu knew the truth, he could still say that their two lives compensated each other and in general, no one owed anyone. But it was all wishful thinking; after this incident, he couldn¡¯t say that he didn¡¯t owe anything. Why did he and Xie Ke end up like this? It was not that Fu Zhiyu had never seen love. Sister Yuan Xi and her husband loved each other for a long time, and he watched them from falling in love, to getting married, to staying together side by side. Even if sometimes the couple quarrelled, it could still be seen that the two people respected each other and loved each other. The love of others was calm and happy, and it was sweet to watch. He couldn¡¯t understand why when it was the turn of the two of them, it was just a ball of wool that couldn¡¯t be untangled. Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t know how long he was thinking about it alone. The past between him and Xie Ke swirled through his mind like a spinning lantern. When he used to think of Xie Ke, it was always some unhappy memories. But now that he thought of him, those sad memories of the past still existed, but there were more, the ones that made Fu Zhiyu feel different. One night, two people walked together on a deserted street, two lanterns without writing floating along the water. He also met Xie Ke on the construction site where the canal was dug. Xie Ke¡¯s face was grey and he couldn¡¯t wipe it clean. And further in the past, Xie Ke cautiously climbed over the wall of the residence, habitually avoiding Rongrong, and when he got there, he didn¡¯t dare to get too close to Fu Zhiyu, so he stood there like that, looking at him a little stupidly. When you hate someone, everything this person does is wrong. But when Fu Zhiyu¡¯s mood changed and he remembered these things again, he felt different. He and Xie Ke had experienced almost everything before, ups and downs, the sweet and the sour. It was just that in the end, they were separated. Advertisements The time Fu Zhiyu spent alone wasn¡¯t much, and the World Consciousness came to him not long after. It was at this time that Fu Zhiyu felt what was ¡°different¡±, as the Lord God had said. It was very difficult for the Lord God to communicate with the World Consciousness, only getting a few words at a time. The Lord God explained to him many things, but it itself had received them intermittently, taking a long time to learn everything. But the communication between Fu Zhiyu and the World Consciousness was very smooth, without any barriers. When he first felt the presence of the World Consciousness in the midst of his memories, he felt a force pulling his cheek. Fu Zhiyu hissed and touched his affected cheek. ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°Me, the World Consciousness.¡± He heard a low voice coming into his ear, ¡°It¡¯s the first time I¡¯ve seen you, so I¡¯m trying it out.¡± Trying out what? Fu Zhiyu clutched his cheek; did this World Consciousness think he was dough? Knead him whatever way you want? ¡°When can you start working?¡± The World Consciousness pretended that nothing happened, and got to the point, ¡°There are many things you need to do.¡± Fu Zhiyu: ¡°¡­¡­¡± He couldn¡¯t speak for a while; the World Consciousness had no body and there was nothing in front of his eyes. He could only smile bitterly and sigh. ¡°Do you think I can still do things for you?¡± ¡°Why can¡¯t you?¡± The World Consciousness was very puzzled, ¡°I have observed your actions in the world of ¡®His Name Will Live On in History¡¯. You have some ideas and also are active and enthusiastic. Many of the things I explained to you are connected. Shouldn¡¯t you find it enjoyable and meaningful?¡± ¡°And you still wanted to delete me before?¡± ¡°And what if you didn¡¯t obey?¡± The World Consciousness felt it was very reasonable, ¡°Now you are fine anyway.¡± Fu Zhiyu: ¡°¡­¡­¡± He didn¡¯t want to talk, so he turned away. ¡°It¡¯s useless for you to do this, I¡¯m everywhere,¡± the World Consciousness reminded him, ¡°Don¡¯t get emotional.¡± Fu Zhiyu resisted passively, ignoring it. He didn¡¯t want to get along with the World Consciousness, but in the end, he agreed to the work demands of the World Consciousness. It was because of its words: ¡°In this universe, anything can happen. What the Lord God says is not absolute, but whether you can do it or not depends on yourself. If you don¡¯t do anything and don¡¯t understand anything, then it¡¯s impossible.¡± Xie Ke also had done everything he could to get him back. ¡°Do you have the same feelings for him?¡± the World Consciousness asked, ¡°But you can¡¯t go crazy like him and not listen to reason. If you do, it will be very detrimental to your work.¡± Fu Zhiyu: ¡°I won¡¯t.¡± He was silent for a while before answering the first question. ¡°Actually, I don¡¯t know,¡± he said, ¡°So I have to find him, and he¡­ will have to answer me personally.¡± Putting everything aside, the World Consciousness¡¯s idea of changing the world was actually quite interesting. Advertisements ¡°I wrote the sentence on the title page of the actor¡¯s manual,¡± the World Consciousness said, ¡°I love all the worlds deeply, so I think, at this point in time today, what¡¯s more important than a 100 per cent re-enactment is respect, respect for all the characters in the original.¡± Fu Zhiyu helped the World Consciousness to change the existing rules for the actors little by little. There was no longer a rigid points system, and the scoring was more flexible. ¡°If the characters in the world change without harming the foundation of the world, don¡¯t forcibly break them back according to the original work. Their development should be respected,¡± the World Consciousness said. ¡°You reap what you sow, everyone has their own fate, and the protagonists played by the vast majority of actors always make their worlds a better place. Even in a tragic world, there are personal ups and downs and growth. I really hope that people in these worlds can have their own lives; whether it is good or bad, they should not be shackled by the original work.¡± In fact, the World Consciousness ultimately hoped that there would be no more actors in these worlds, and all worlds would be free worlds. But these worlds had basic operating rules. The protagonist of a world was the son of luck. If the protagonist had an accident, the world would collapse, so the actor needed to save the day. So this idea of the World Consciousness was still an unattainable wish. Compared with the previous practice when every line had to conform to the original work, this method of judgement was more complicated, mainly because it was difficult to grasp the ¡°degree¡±, and the difficulty of the task was greatly increased for the actors. This also caused the actor organisations to be no longer as strong as before. Now that the task changed drastically, they were all focused on the task. How could they have extra energy to do other things? At least the Lord God was very happy about it. Fu Zhiyu was now one level higher than the Lord God. Strictly speaking, he was the real Lord God, but he didn¡¯t care about daily affairs and didn¡¯t usually interfere. Most of the work was still done by the original Lord God. Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t plan to fight with it. Other systems still called him ¡°Zhiyu.¡± The actors sneakily called him the devil, and after knowing that he was the one Xie Ke died for, the actors became even more respectful to the former actor who had disappeared. What kind of strong man could fall in love with an unreasonable workaholic demon like Fu Zhiyu? Very, very capable. Fu Zhiyu was still alone. For a while, he thought about finding his mother and the others, but he was denied by the World Consciousness. ¡°No matter what they are, they are ordinary data. They can¡¯t come to the system space. If you forcibly transfer them over, they will be automatically deleted as abnormal data. Not everyone is as special as you,¡± the World Consciousness explained. ¡°But in those worlds, all data circulates. You can understand it as reincarnation. The data that has eaten your blood will be more or less different. You don¡¯t have to worry about them having a bad time.¡± Fu Zhiyu also sneaked around to make sure that the people he cared about were all doing very well, and it made him somewhat relieved. Xie Ke was probably the only regret in his heart now. Even after so much experience, he still hadn¡¯t figured it out. Fu Zhiyu heard Xie Ke say before that he had lived for many, many years and still loved him deeply, but at that time he only half believed it. He probably felt it now. After so long, he had also experienced a lot, but he still wanted to see Xie Ke and remembered the words of the World Consciousness. In a roundabout way, Xie Ke became a knot in his heart. Time will only make some feelings more profound, not make them stale. But for Fu Zhiyu it was not a matter of life and death; he just lived calmly like this. Sometimes, the Lord God asked him, and he smiled very serenely. ¡°He will come back and make it clear to me,¡± Fu Zhiyu said. ¡°If he really loves me as much as he said, he won¡¯t be willing to leave me alone.¡± The Lord God stopped asking. There was no time in the system space, and Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t know how long he had been working. When the work entrusted to him by the World Consciousness was almost done, the rest was just patches and daily maintenance for abnormal situations. He was idle all of a sudden. Fu Zhiyu couldn¡¯t afford to be idle now; when he was idle, he tended to think more. ¡°There just happens to be one more thing,¡± the World Consciousness approached him, ¡°There is a world recently where the task has been completed, but it has not been transformed into a free world. So it is stuck there, unable to get up or down. The actor has left it, and the task rewards have been settled. In the absence of a task, other actors can¡¯t get in. The only one I can think about is you. You are idle now anyway, go and have a look. At any rate, you¡¯re half an actor, you haven¡¯t been to other worlds for so long, right?¡± Fu Zhiyu refused on the spot: ¡°I¡¯m not going, you can solve it by yourself, I don¡¯t want to be an actor.¡± As his identity of half an actor, he even carried the pile of points and props that Xie Ke left him, but Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t even want to touch them. ¡°No, this is work,¡± the World Consciousness said righteously, ¡°Zhiyu, be good, you have to be obedient.¡± Fu Zhiyu: ¡°¡­Don¡¯t talk to me in this disgusting tone.¡± It was probably that the Lord God¡¯s strange ¡°child of the World Consciousness¡± description of him was also heard by the World Consciousness. Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t take it seriously. He only recognised his own mother; but the World Consciousness accepted it very smoothly and even felt it was very reasonable. So sometimes when Fu Zhiyu talked to it, he really wanted to fight it because of its strange tone, but he suffered from the fact that the World Consciousness had no body. CH 96 The World Consciousness was always like this. It only had the idea of ¡°achieving the goal¡±, and if it couldn¡¯t be achieved, it would force it willy-nilly anyway. Fu Zhiyu wanted to ignore it, turned around and was going to leave, but as soon as he took a step, he heard a ¡°ding¡± in his ear. ¡°The world is loading, please be prepared.¡± Fu Zhiyu: ¡°¡­¡­¡± How could this world have such an unreasonable consciousness! Before he could curse, his vision went black, and when he opened his eyes again, the system space was no longer in front of him. At this moment, a huge amount of information from this world instantly poured into his mind. Fu Zhiyu had never had such an experience; he felt light-headed, and it took him a long time to recover. This was a strange world to him. Although he had seen many various worlds when he was in the system space, it was like watching surveillance, and there were many differences from actually entering. Moreover, this was not the same as the ancient world of ¡°His Name Will Live On in History¡±. This was a modern world. The original work was a plot-driven novel. It is about the journey of the female protagonist from obscurity to becoming a movie queen. Although the emotional line with the male lead was not much, it was not too difficult. The overall difficulty of playing was not high; Fu Zhiyu judged that it was probably a middle-level world. The original work only said that after the female protagonist won the Best Actress award, she accepted the male protagonist¡¯s marriage proposal and it was over. The actress in charge of the world played this part well, got the points reward and left the world. After that, the heroine, the daughter of luck, still existed, but became a normal data. It stood to reason that the whole world should have become a free world, but it was the program that had an abnormality, and it was stuck there half up and half down. Now it seemed that although everything was working as usual, it definitely would not be good in the long run. Stuck in the middle, there would be a risk of the world dissipating. This kind of situation had never happened before. The situation was indeed quite urgent, but the problems that arose during the operation like this should be managed by the Lord God according to the distribution of responsibilities. Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t know what the World Consciousness was crazy about sending him in. Fu Zhiyu¡¯s identity this time was a supporting role. This supporting character was regarded as one of the heroine¡¯s admirers, but the book was mainly plot-based and there were very few emotional lines. Even the male lead could be regarded as a part of the background. In fact, his supporting character was at best agreeable. In addition to reflecting the charm of the heroine in the plot, there were very few other scenes. In short, he was an instrumental passerby. The name of this supporting character was Lin Yu, and it partly coincided with Fu Zhiyu¡¯s name, which could barely be considered a bit of fate. This book was mainly about the entertainment industry. Lin Yu was an idol singer. When the book was over, he was only eighteen years old. The heroine treated him as her younger brother. Fu Zhiyu walked to the mirror and looked at his face to familiarise himself with it somewhat. It was good to have the face of an idol singer. Besides, Lin Yu was a popular idol. He was young and took the sweet boy route. His curly hair was dyed golden and surrounded his porcelain-white face, making him look like a cute doll. Not like him, but a little bit like Yuan Lu. Lin Yu was not living alone yet. He was a member of an idol group. The company rented a small villa for five people of the group, each having a separate room. The allocation of the rooms showed the company¡¯s bias. The popularity of the group members was not equal. Lin Yu alone carried more than half of the attention. He lived in the largest room on the second floor, with a separate cloakroom, bathroom and even a small garden. Members who were not so popular lived in the rooms that were not half as big as his and had no private bathroom. This kind of approach with pleasing the winner and stepping on the loser was actually quite bad. No matter when and where, no one would be happy with such differential treatment. Advertisements As a result, the plot had developed to the point when the group could no longer sustain itself and was already in the process of disbanding. Everyone was waiting to fly solo. The popular members didn¡¯t want to be dragged down. The non-popular ones also felt that they didn¡¯t want to live in the shadow of the others. After they left, there would definitely be more opportunities in the future. Anyway, no one wanted to stay. Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t care about this. He was thinking about the key to the world¡¯s problem of being stuck. Was there something wrong with the female protagonist and the male lead? He had some contact with the heroine in this identity, and the relationship was okay. He belonged to the kind of person who couldn¡¯t be a lover but could be a friend. He fished out his mobile phone from the bed, groped it carefully, and then sent a message to the heroine, asking if she had time to come out to meet. After he waited for a while, the heroine didn¡¯t reply, probably very busy. But at this time, there was a noise downstairs. ¡°Don¡¯t bully people too much!¡± Then there was a bang, like the sound of a cup being smashed. And as if this was not enough, the noise was getting louder and louder, and it sounded as if a fight was about to start. Fu Zhiyu glanced at his mobile phone. The heroine hadn¡¯t replied to him yet. Fu Zhiyu and the male lead were not familiar with each other, so he could only go down to the living room to have a look. There was a group of people sitting on the sofa in the living room. The agent was sitting in the middle, his face ugly. But after seeing Fu Zhiyu coming down, he forced out a smile. ¡°Woke up from your nap? Come on, come and sit here.¡± Fu Zhiyu took a look; it was a glass cup that had just been broken. It was right at his feet, and no one went to clean up the broken glass on the floor. He didn¡¯t go over either, afraid of cutting his feet. He found a stool and sat down, asking, ¡°What¡¯s the matter? What¡¯s all the noise about?¡± The people present didn¡¯t seem to be in a good mood, so when he asked, no one said anything, and the scene was very awkward for a while. Fu Zhiyu looked around. The captain was regarded as the second most popular in the group, making some splashes in the circle. Today, he wore a very formal suit. He lowered his head and was thinking about something. Among the other three, one was admitted to the film academy and was going to school next month, feeling very impatient. Sitting at the dining table, far away from everyone, there were two more people, the least popular ones. One huddled on the small sofa and seemed to have cried; his eyes were red. The other one stood in front of him. His protective posture was obvious, and his face was the most discontent. To Fu Zhiyu, these people were nothing to be concerned about, they didn¡¯t even add up to a few pages in the original story, but there was one of them that made Fu Zhiyu take a few more looks. It was the one with the most angry face; Fu Zhiyu remembered, his name was Zhou Yu. He was not bad-looking but he was extremely arrogant and often looked at people down his nose, offending many people. He didn¡¯t like to participate in business activities, so it was normal for him to be at the bottom of the popularity. But this young master¡¯s temper was not unwarranted. He was really a young master. He fell out with his family and ran away to be an idol. He never told the company about his family background from beginning to end. Otherwise, this very ordinary entertainment company would have put him to use a long time ago. The strange thing was that this setting was actually not mentioned in the original work. After all, these people were not worthy of the author¡¯s attention to develop in so much detail. But perhaps the world completed itself or some changes occurred in the process. The information Fu Zhiyu received was not only from the original work, but also from the current situation in the world. The world¡¯s completion of the original work was actually quite interesting. Everyone had an independent story. Just like now, when the story of the wealthy and noble young master hiding his identity and falling in love with Cinderella was happening. The red-eyed ¡°Cinderella¡± who was protected by Zhou Yu was called Fang Rongyu. Perhaps because they both were the least popular, the two of them sympathised with each other, and their relationship was getting better and better. Fang Rongyu¡¯s family was very ordinary or even poor. He was probably the most troubled soul in the group, but Zhou Yu didn¡¯t want him to be wronged, so he was dragging him away. The disbandment was a certainty, and now they were talking about the termination of the contract. Advertisements In fact, all five people wanted to terminate their contracts. This small company was simply lucky to get a group that became a big hit. But it was run so poorly that everyone didn¡¯t want to stay. However, there were still three years left in the contract, so there was a quarrel. Zhou Yu hadn¡¯t said anything about his family background yet; he hadn¡¯t even mentioned it to Fang Rongyu. In the future, he planned to take Fang Rongyu to sign up with his relative¡¯s company, which was currently the best company in the industry. Fu Zhiyu had already received this information when he entered the world. It was really too detailed. The World Consciousness didn¡¯t tell him where the problem was, so he could only pay attention to everything, like a headless fly, hoping to solve it as soon as possible and go back quickly. There was a solid quarrel in the living room for a long time, and Fu Zhiyu waited until the evening before getting the heroine¡¯s reply. ¡°Sorry, ah, Xiao Yu, I have been filming abroad for the last month, and I may not have time to go out. When I return home, I will bring you a gift.¡± Followed by a smiley face. It seemed everything was normal with the heroine. Fu Zhiyu flipped through her Moments. Last night, the heroine also posted a photo of a loving scene with the male lead. The two most important people in the world seemed to be very stable emotionally, and there was no problem. Could it be that the problem lay with other people? While Fu Zhiyu was thinking hard, the living room continued to be noisy; but there was no result anyway, and everyone finally broke up unhappily. But the good thing was that recently, because of this incident, the team¡¯s activities had basically come to a standstill. Fu Zhiyu was happy to be free and spend time looking around for the problem. He hadn¡¯t found anything in the next few days, but Zhou Yu¡¯s plan to terminate the contract had basically come to fruition. The company wasn¡¯t concerned about the two unpopular ones, mainly because it thought that Lin Yu and the captain couldn¡¯t run away, and the one who had gotten into film school was also a potential stock. As for the rest, they could go wherever they wanted to. On the day Zhou Yu took Fang Rongyu away, Fang Rongyu seemed to have cried again. He saw Fu Zhiyu coming down the stairs and looked at him expectantly. ¡°What¡¯s wrong with you?¡± Fu Zhiyu was taken aback by his look. ¡°Xiao Yu, after we separate, you have to be good,¡± Fang Rongyu sniffed and shoved at him something he was holding behind his back. ¡°I will always remember our days together.¡± Fu Zhiyu looked down and saw that it was five little dolls. It was probably something that had been sold to the fan circle before, but the dolls were well done and seemed alive. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± Zhou Yu saw it, pulled Fang Rongyu over with a cold face and glared at Fu Zhiyu as he left. Fu Zhiyu: ¡°¡­¡­¡± What does it have to do with me? It¡¯s not that I provoked him. Fang Rongyu was pulled by Zhou Yu, and the two quickly walked to the door of the villa, where in addition to the moving company¡¯s truck, there was also a car parked behind. Zhou Yu pulled Fang Rongyu to the car and told him to sit inside, but when Fang Rongyu looked at the car logo, his face became weird, and he stopped on his tracks. He was simple but not stupid. This car was obviously not something they could afford to drive. ¡°I¡¯ll explain to you slowly,¡± Zhou Yu also saw his doubts and coaxed, ¡°You get in first.¡± Fu Zhiyu was already at the door at this time. He hadn¡¯t received a gift for a long time, and Fang Rongyu was also a friend of the original owner. He thought about seeing them off; anyway, it was just an effort of a few words. But before he could say anything, a man came out of the parked car. ¡°You get in too.¡± The man wore a decent suit, as if he had just gotten out of a meeting. He glanced at Zhou Yu and said to him in a calm voice, ¡°When you get home, you can also explain to us slowly.¡± There was a look of surprise on Zhou Yu¡¯s face when saw the man. His raised head immediately lowered; he even looked a little cramped and laughed dryly: ¡°Youngest Uncle¡­ why are you here?¡± As he spoke, he subconsciously pulled Fang Rongyu aside for symbolical protection. Fu Zhiyu originally wanted to see them off at the door. He was still wearing home clothes and walked in a pair of bear slippers, just in time to meet this man. The ¡°youngest uncle¡± Zhou Yu mentioned had Xie Ke¡¯s face. CH 97 Tu Zhiyu¡¯s mind was blank for a moment. At the same time, a doubt quickly emerged in his thoughts. Why did the World Consciousness inexplicably send him here? Perhaps the stuck middle-level world was not the reason. The bigger reason was the person in front of him, right? Was it brain-damaged? Was it necessary to make these twists and turns? As soon as Fu Zhiyu finished thinking that, he immediately realised that the World Consciousness was originally brainless. After Zhou Yu met the man, he obediently took Fang Rongyu into the car, but the man he called ¡°Youngest Uncle¡± remained in the same place, staring at Fu Zhiyu intently, unable to say a word. Fu Zhiyu took the initiative to step forward, stared at him for a long time, and asked him, ¡°Who are you?¡± ¡°I¡­¡± The man in the suit stuttered and even became obviously nervous, ¡°I am¡­ Xie Ke.¡± Xie Ke also felt very strange. Because of his nephew¡¯s affairs, he had seen the photos of everyone in their ¡°idol group¡±. Lin Yu¡¯s photo was a promotional photo taken by a fashion magazine. His face was very beautiful, but Xie Ke didn¡¯t remember much after looking at it and forgot it almost immediately. Why was meeting a real person so different? After Fu Zhiyu heard this name, his face became even more indescribable. After all this, you can¡¯t say it¡¯s a coincidence, can you? This was him. Xie Ke felt uneasy when he saw the young man¡¯s stern face in front of him. Did he seem too serious for their first meeting? He regretted that he didn¡¯t change into more casual clothes when he came from the meeting, making himself look more approachable. ¡°I, I¡¯m Zhou Yu¡¯s uncle, and I¡¯m here to pick him up,¡± He tried to squeeze out a kind smile, but because of nervousness, the smile seemed very stiff, ¡°Lin Yu, it¡¯s very, very nice to meet you.¡± He habitually stretched out a hand, probably because he was doing too much business. This handshake was no different from when he was negotiating a deal. As soon as he stretched out his hand, he regretted it. It was too formal and didn¡¯t express the friendliness he wanted to express at all. But what he didn¡¯t expect was that Lin Yu would stare at him for a while, reach out and shake his hand. Although he quickly withdrew his hand, Xie Ke felt that his heartbeat had reached its peak at that moment. His, his hand was so soft! He didn¡¯t understand what was wrong with him. Although Lin Yu was very good-looking, Xie Ke had seen hundreds of beauties and he had never taken more than one look. But the first glance at this person standing there had already made him unable to move his eyes away. When Lin Yu stared at him, Xie Ke felt that his eyes seemed to be talking. He didn¡¯t fully understand the meaning, but he couldn¡¯t help but focus all his attention on Lin Yu. ¡°We¡­ have we met before?¡± The two of them stood in front of the car and talked. Zhou Yu took Fang Rongyu to sit down, and his uncle still didn¡¯t come for a long time. He didn¡¯t close the car window, so he could hear their conversation. ¡°Uncle?¡± He looked incredulous, ¡°Your way of striking up a conversation is too old-fashioned, right?¡± Advertisements Xie Ke turned his head, and his eyes changed in a moment. Zhou Yu didn¡¯t dare to joke with him like this, so he shrank his head back. ¡°Take him home immediately,¡± Xie Ke said to the driver, ¡°I still have something to do.¡± The driver nodded, and the car drove away quickly. Fu Zhiyu looked at Zhou Yu in the car, who watched him with very complicated eyes, and then said something to him. The voice was too low, Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t hear it, but looking at the mouth shape, it should be ¡°damn vixen¡±. Xie Ke also saw it; he turned his head to Fu Zhiyu and said, ¡°I¡¯ll beat him up when I get back.¡± Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t take this matter to heart. Zhou Yu¡¯s silly behaviour was no different from that of a child. He had lived for so long, what would be the point of caring about this? He tilted his head, glanced at Xie Ke and asked, ¡°Aren¡¯t you leaving? Didn¡¯t you come to pick him up?¡± ¡°Zhou Yu has his mother to take care of him, I don¡¯t usually need to bother,¡± Xie Ke explained hurriedly, ¡°I, I have a lot of time today.¡± Fu Zhiyu understood his frantic hint and thought for a while: ¡°Are you free to have dinner with me?¡± He looked at the sky and added, ¡°Breakfast.¡± Xie Ke was happier than ever at this moment and couldn¡¯t help but grin, quickly agreeing: ¡°Sure.¡± Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t avoid him either, turned around and took him into the villa. The strange relationship between the two of them meeting for the first time was a bit abnormal, but neither of them raised any objections. Meanwhile, Zhou Yu, who took Fang Rongyu away, looked uncomfortable, and Fang Rongyu was also very worried. ¡°Whose car is this, is it your uncle¡¯s?¡± He couldn¡¯t help but look back, ¡°Your uncle¡­ what is he going to do to Xiao Yu?¡± Zhou Yu looked at him and his tone sounded softer as he explained: ¡°It¡¯s my family¡¯s car. You will understand when we get home. My uncle just has a cold personality, he won¡¯t do anything to him. I think this guy Lin Yu is not simple. The way he looked at my uncle was like a hook.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t talk nonsense,¡± Fang Rongyu looked at him disapprovingly, ¡°Xiao Yu is very good, don¡¯t be prejudiced against him.¡± Zhou Yu curled his lips, but didn¡¯t say anything. Advertisements Fu Zhiyu took Xie Ke into the house, told him to sit down on the sofa first and went upstairs to change his clothes. He was used to dressing simply. He pulled out a camel-colored jumper that was at the bottom of his wardrobe and changed into it, then looked in the mirror. This face was not at all similar to his original one, but looking at Xie Ke¡¯s reaction, there was definitely something strange. Did he¡­ recognise him or not? While Xie Ke was sitting on the sofa, he actually felt very confused. He looked around. After a while, he saw Fu Zhiyu, who had changed his clothes, walking down from upstairs, and quickly followed. Fu Zhiyu first walked to the kitchen and took a look. Everything was new and almost unused. The group had not lived here a lot, and even if they were here, no one would cook. Fu Zhiyu wanted to go to the fridge to see if there were any ingredients, but as soon as he turned around, he bumped into Xie Ke who was following him. ¡°Why don¡¯t I take you out to eat?¡± Xie Ke plucked up the courage to invite him, ¡°I know a few restaurants that are not bad.¡± ¡°No,¡± Fu Zhiyu shook his head. ¡°This is a suburb. It takes more than an hour to drive, and I¡¯m already very hungry.¡± ¡°Then¡­¡± ¡°Can you cook?¡± Fu Zhiyu asked him. He went to the fridge and took a look. There were noodles and some vegetables, probably bought by the housekeeper. ¡°Just something simple.¡± Xie Ke really could. But he cooked very little, and no one had eaten his meals except himself. It was strange. It was obviously the first time they met, but he couldn¡¯t refuse anything Lin Yu said. Zhou Yu complained about his old-fashioned way of striking up a conversation, but he was telling the truth. Why was he so familiar? While thinking about it, Xie Ke took off his coat and obediently went to the kitchen to make Fu Zhiyu a bowl of tomato and egg noodles. The noodles were ordinary packaged noodles bought in the supermarket. The tomatoes had probably been in the fridge for several days. The ingredients were not fresh anymore. To be honest, this bowl of noodles was not very delicious. Fu Zhiyu looked at the man in front of him, lowered his head and finished eating. ¡°Where do you know me from?¡± He asked, ¡°Because of Zhou Yu?¡± Xie Ke nodded and said, ¡°Lin Yu¡­¡± Fu Zhiyu interrupted him at this moment, and suddenly asked him: ¡°I have another name, Fu Zhiyu, do you remember?¡± He felt that the problem of this world should basically lie with Xie Ke, otherwise the World Consciousness wouldn¡¯t send him over inexplicably. But what would it take for this man to become ¡°normal¡±? Whether it was for the sake of the world becoming normal or for his own sake, this matter of Xie Ke had to be resolved. Xie Ke couldn¡¯t hide from him those things he had done for him inexplicably and then disappear quietly. Now Fu Zhiyu finally saw him again, but Xie Ke didn¡¯t remember anything. He had to remember all the memories, good or bad; no matter what, it was something the two of them had experienced. ¡°Fu Zhiyu,¡± Xie Ke looked at him blankly, muttering the name repeatedly, ¡°Fu Zhiyu¡­¡± The name seemed to be imprinted in his soul, and as soon as it was mentioned, it made the deepest part of his heart tremble. He tried to look back on his life. Xie Ke¡¯s memory was very good; since he remembered himself at an extremely young age, he wouldn¡¯t forget a single thing, not a single thing had been missed. But why wasn¡¯t Fu Zhiyu there? It shouldn¡¯t have been like that. CH 98 Meanwhile, Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t speak much, giving Xie Ke time. He could see that Xie Ke was very unsettled, and his heart felt actually just as complicated. There were times when he felt that Xie Ke had really gone too far. From the beginning to the end, why couldn¡¯t he ever discuss things with him? Every time Xie Ke made a decision, he was like this. But perhaps that was why the two of them would be forever entangled. Otherwise, they would have parted ways a long time ago, and they wouldn¡¯t be here now. The World Consciousness had asked if Fu Zhiyu still loved Xie Ke. Fu Zhiyu said at that time that he couldn¡¯t say for sure. This was the truth. He had to wait until Xie Ke came back and the two of them had a good talk before they could sort it out. But he also knew in his heart that Xie Ke was the only person he had ever loved. He loved Xie Ke as a lover. He loved him passionately and he loved him gently. All his memories of love were about Xie Ke. There was no possibility of anyone else. Thinking of this, Fu Zhiyu sighed, stretched out his hand and rubbed his brow. Xie Ke hadn¡¯t really thought it through either, but seeing how irritable the young man in front of him was, he naturally focused on him again But before he could say anything, the door of the villa opened with a click, and Fu Zhiyu glanced up. It was the captain who came back. It turned out that the relationship between Lin Yu and the other group members was relatively flimsy. Now that there was such a mess, the two of them didn¡¯t even say hello. ¡°Why is someone here?¡± The captain walked to the living room and saw the man sitting opposite Fu Zhiyu. He frowned and subconsciously pulled down the cap on his head. His first reaction was to accuse, ¡°Why do you bring someone here casually?¡± Fu Zhiyu hadn¡¯t spoken yet, and Xie Ke didn¡¯t expect anyone to come back at this time. He glanced at this person with some hostility. It was only then that they finally saw each other¡¯s faces clearly. As a result, the captain¡¯s original disgusted and defensive glare changed, turning into an indescribable surprise. ¡°Mr. Xie?¡± He immediately made his way to the dining room, ¡°Why are you here?¡± Advertisements He glanced at Fu Zhiyu, and then reacted quickly. ¡°Xiao Yu and I are friends,¡± he patted Fu Zhiyu on the shoulder affectionately and then stretched out his hand to shake Xie Ke¡¯s hand. ¡°We just met a few days ago, at the opening ceremony of the film festival¡­¡± When Xie Ke faced him, he was far from being as stunned as when he faced Fu Zhiyu. He returned a very cold and hard look: ¡°Sorry, I don¡¯t remember.¡± The captain¡¯s hand stopped in the air very awkwardly. Seeing this scene, Fu Zhiyu sneered a little. He chuckled and said to Xie Ke: ¡°Let¡¯s go out, there are outsiders here.¡± There was someone here, so he didn¡¯t want to stay here anymore. He cleaned up the bowls on the table. Lin Yu used to pile them up in the sink, waiting for the housekeeper to come and wash them. But after changing to Fu Zhiyu, he couldn¡¯t see how dirty they were. It was fine for him to wash a bowl, he was not so precious. But he wasn¡¯t familiar with this kitchen, and after putting the bowls down and looking for detergent, he turned around and saw that Xie Ke had already finished washing the bowls and turned to draw a piece of paper towel to wipe his hands. The captain who was sitting at the dinner table and watching all this seemed to have seen a ghost. His thoughts at this point were highly overlapping with those of Zhou Yu who had already left. He felt that Lin Yu was a vixen who had been hiding for a long time and finally inexplicably hooked a man. ¡°Let¡¯s go,¡± Xie Ke didn¡¯t care what others thought, just looking at Fu Zhiyu brightly, ¡°I¡­ there are still many things to tell you.¡± Fu Zhiyu actually wanted to know what Xie Ke had experienced in this world. He also took his phone and searched Xie Ke¡¯s name in the process and came up with a whole bunch of stuff. Most of Zhou Yu¡¯s confidence in running away with Fang Rongyu came from Xie Ke. Although film and television investment was only part of Xie Ke¡¯s group¡¯s business, most of the news on the Internet was connected to it. For example, a scandal with an actress. Xie Ke¡¯s eyes were sharp. He knew that Fu Zhiyu was searching for him, and he was very happy. He felt that this man wanted to know everything about him as much as he did, but when those pictures came out, he wasn¡¯t so glad and started to worry. ¡°They¡¯re all fake, they¡¯re all fake,¡± He immediately began to explain. ¡°Those reporters, they¡¯re just taking pictures indiscriminately, just using them to get heat. I, I don¡¯t like her, and I¡¯ve never been in a relationship.¡± ¡°What are you nervous about?¡± Fu Zhiyu put the phone back and glanced at him with a smile, ¡°We are only meeting for the first time. You don¡¯t need to explain so much to me.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not¡­¡± Xie Ke couldn¡¯t fully express all his inner thoughts at this time. He thought to himself, how could it be the first time they met? Meeting you for the first time is like return of an old friend. He remembered these words inexplicably; the indescribable familiarity of the person in front of him made him want to get close. Advertisements ¡°Maybe it was a previous life?¡± He tried hard to explain, but after he said it, he felt very ridiculous while boldly expressing his thoughts, ¡°Zhiyu, I think that if people really have a previous life, we must have been a couple of lovers in the previous life.¡± After hearing the name ¡°Fu Zhiyu¡±, Xie Ke felt that the name seemed to open up something, and it was more acceptable to him than the name ¡°Lin Yu¡±. Fu Zhiyu shook his head and said, ¡°No, we have never been a couple.¡± Xie Ke was a little disappointed when he heard his words, but he still added: ¡°If we haven¡¯t been together, then I must have loved you very much.¡± So much so that I felt it as soon as I saw you. When Fu Zhiyu heard this, he stopped talking, which could be regarded as a tacit acknowledgement. ¡°In the future, can I still ask you out for dinner?¡± Xie Ke pushed relentlessly, ¡°If you still want to eat what I cook, it¡¯s fine. I¡¯ll learn more dishes and make sure they¡¯re better than the ones made outside, okay?¡± Fu Zhiyu nodded. Xie Ke had been in this world for more than twenty years, but Fu Zhiyu had been working in the system space for far longer than this, not to mention that the time in the system space was much slower than in the world in the book. Xie Ke had really disappeared for a long time, and Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t know why he became the ¡°Xie Ke¡± of this world inexplicably. Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t like the way the World Consciousness acted and couldn¡¯t understand why it was doing this. If it found something, couldn¡¯t it just tell him? He didn¡¯t want to play any more puzzle games. Xie Ke really didn¡¯t remember anything, and only a vague impression of him was left. Fu Zhiyu wanted to talk to him a lot, but looking into his eyes, he couldn¡¯t say all these words Forget it, it was useless to say it. Fu Zhiyu originally wanted Xie Ke to remember. He obviously hadn¡¯t lost all his memories, he might just have sealed them up. Maybe it meant that if a way was found, Xie Ke could remember and the problems of this world could be solved together. He felt that the only way the two of them could have a good conversation was if Xie Ke remembered; but as time went on, his thoughts changed somewhat. Xie Ke didn¡¯t remember anything. He still treated him very kindly, but this kind of kindness no longer carried a heavy sense of guilt. Although Xie Ke was still cautious, still worried, and facing Fu Zhiyu, he would still show some silliness, but these feelings became pure and direct, making Fu Zhiyu feel a lot more comfortable. As time went by, Fu Zhiyu felt a little something else in it. If only fate hadn¡¯t gotten in the way, if this and that misunderstanding hadn¡¯t overlapped, if only they had both seen their own hearts clearly, if only they had met under normal circumstances¡­ So many ifs, and now it was really happening. If he, like Xie Ke, had no memories, such an encounter could be called perfect. The precious feelings of love and understanding that Fu Zhiyu had seen between Yuan Xi and her husband could in fact happen to him as well. For example, Xie Ke really devoted himself to learning to cook because of that one sentence. He was really talented in cooking, and he was proficient in it. He learned quickly, as if he had learned it before. After learning to cook, make soups and stir-fry, he also learned to make desserts. ¡°What kind of snacks does Zhiyu want to eat?¡± He asked gently, ¡°I¡¯ll learn them all.¡± Fu Zhiyu looked at his busy back in the kitchen, pondered for a while, and said lightly: ¡°Osmanthus candy.¡± It was just the right night outside, and today happened to be the Qixi Festival again. CH 99 However, even after a long time, Fu Zhiyu still wasn¡¯t truly together with Xie Ke. After staying in the system space for too long, although the systems were very intelligent and it was not like he didn¡¯t have anyone to chat to, in the long run, it was still boring and life felt monotonous and uninteresting. When he came to this world, although he was carrying a mission, after discovering Xie Ke, he probably guessed the intention of the World Consciousness, and he wasn¡¯t so nervous. This world was a bit like travelling to him, much more relaxed than when he was in the system space. His mode of getting along with Xie Ke was gradual, and it also made him feel comfortable. When Xie Ke had disappeared, Fu Zhiyu thought of him from time to time, but he couldn¡¯t tell whether missing him was because of gratitude for saving his life or because of love. In fact, the balance in his heart often tilted towards the former. But even if this feeling could be regarded as gratitude, it was enough to make Fu Zhiyu¡¯s vision of Xie Ke change. He could at least really treat him normally, and most of the time, he would no longer refuse Xie Ke¡¯s kindness. In fact, Xie Ke also noticed it. The person in front of him didn¡¯t seem to like him as much as he liked him, and Fu Zhiyu had never promised that the two of them would be officially together. But this was good enough. Xie Ke thought that one day there would be results, and even if not, it didn¡¯t matter. As long as this person was still by his side, it was fine. The two of them were now making an ambiguous and vague progress. Neither of them felt that there was any problem. Fu Zhiyu felt that he still needed time. Xie Ke felt that the layer of paper had not been pierced and the sweet and sour feeling was also very enjoyable. Sure enough, as long as the object is someone you like, everything you experience becomes fascinating. The osmanthus candy looked like a simple thing, but when Xie Ke made it, the taste was average. ¡°It¡¯s too sweet,¡± he took a bite to taste it himself, a little regretful, and said to Fu Zhiyu honestly, ¡°It¡¯s not very delicious. It¡¯s all sugar. I¡¯ll let the restaurant outside send some over.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t bother,¡± Fu Zhiyu looked at it, ¡°It¡¯s just the two of us, let¡¯s eat whatever we have.¡± The two of them had a simple meal, and all the dishes were cooked by Xie Ke. Seeing the process of his sweetheart eating what he made was enough to make Xie Ke happy. Advertisements After Fu Zhiyu had finished eating, he was ready to go back. He didn¡¯t live in the small villa like at the beginning. Lin Yu had already made a lot of money. He had his own house under his name. After Fu Zhiyu came to this world, except for Xie Ke¡¯s accident, most of the time, he naturally followed Lin Yu¡¯s life trajectory. After the contract expired, he terminated the contract with the small company and set up a personal studio. He was still producing records. Lin Yu had a good voice, and Fu Zhiyu could adapt to it. Later, he had the opportunity to act, and he also grabbed it. Now his focus was more on acting. Compared with the thousands of idols like he was a few years ago, Fu Zhiyu was much lower-key than at that time. His works were not big hits, and he had lost a lot of fans, but the public awareness and goodwill had risen a lot. When he first came here, he wasn¡¯t used to wearing a mask and hat to go out. As a result, he was so crowded by fans that he almost doubted he would survive before he learned his lesson. Now he didn¡¯t have so many crazy fans, but there were still a lot of people pointing and taking pictures when he showed his face. When he was leaving this time, Xie Ke plucked up the courage to stop him. ¡°Zhiyu, why don¡¯t you move here?¡± He suggested, ¡°The security in your community is not good enough. My side is quieter and safer. I don¡¯t mean anything else. If you feel uncomfortable, I can move out.¡± In fact, the security in Lin Yu¡¯s community was already very strict, but he was still occasionally disturbed by fans. Xie Ke¡¯s villa half up the mountain was very independent and had no community. The whole mountain belonged to him, and it was much quieter. ¡°This is your house, where are you going to move out?¡± Fu Zhiyu took off his scarf from the hanger and glanced at Xie Ke with a chuckle, ¡°I¡¯ll go back first¡­¡± Xie Ke was a little disappointed when he heard this. He felt that Fu Zhiyu probably didn¡¯t want to move to his place. Sure enough, there was no progress yet. While thinking like this, he comforted himself, telling himself not to worry, and smiled at Fu Zhiyu, showing that he fully respected his thoughts and wasn¡¯t upset. Fu Zhiyu looked at him, only to feel that Xie Ke withered visibly to the naked eye. He was forcing out a smile, but in fact, Xie Ke was very sullen in his heart. He sighed, and then went on: ¡°I mean¡­ I¡¯ll go back first and get some daily things and clothes, okay?¡± Xie Ke was taken aback for a moment, and then he was hit by a sudden surprise. ¡°Okay, okay!¡± He almost jumped up, ¡°I¡¯m calling the driver now¡­ no! I will drive the car over now!¡± Fu Zhiyu: ¡°¡­¡­¡± No need to be so excited. But when he went back to his house, he found that there was nothing to take. He lived on the set a lot of time. When he was not filming, he went to Xie Ke¡¯s house. Even Xie Ke¡¯s house had more of his clothes and stuff than his home. As for the toiletries such as toothbrushes and towels, Xie Ke had already prepared them for him. Looking at it this way, it seemed that there was no difference between moving or not, it was just a matter of wording. Fu Zhiyu ended up carrying a travel bag and that was it. It seemed very natural to live with Xie Ke. Probably because the two of them were not sharing a room yet, Fu Zhiyu accepted it well. Sometimes he was reading a script in the sun on the balcony, and Xie Ke was working on his computer next to him, staring at him from time to time, and even if the afternoon was spent like this, he didn¡¯t feel bored. Fu Zhiyu actually liked filming very much. It was also good to experience things he hadn¡¯t experienced before. The female protagonist and the male lead of this world were still very happy, and Lin Yu¡¯s relationship with the heroine remained the one of the ordinary friends. The script in Fu Zhiyu¡¯s hand was recommended by the heroine. It was a high investment movie. The crew had no choice, the male and female leads had been set, and they were the top in the circle. The script Fu Zhiyu was currently reading was the second male lead. Even if it was the second male lead, this role was also big. There were many scenes and the character had a colourful personality. Fu Zhiyu was not the best choice in the eyes of the studio, but there was an audition opportunity and he could still fight for it. Of course, this was without going through Xie Ke¡¯s back door. Xie Ke had been with Fu Zhiyu for a long time and also knew his temper. He didn¡¯t interfere with this matter. If Zhiyu needed it, he would have said it directly. It was better to accompany him having fun than to go against his will, assuring him a place in the crew. But what Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t expect was that there would be Fang Rongyu among his competitors. Fang Rongyu¡¯s face hadn¡¯t changed much since a few years ago, but he was much more cheerful. He was also surprised when he saw Fu Zhiyu. When there were fewer people, he came forward and greeted Fu Zhiyu in a regular manner: ¡°Hello, Youngest Aunt.¡± Fu Zhiyu: ¡°¡­Don¡¯t call people names indiscriminately.¡± Fang Rongyu looked at him in surprise: ¡°Why? Are you and Youngest Uncle not together yet?¡± He and Zhou Yu got married early, and the marriage certificate was also made public. This world had a high degree of acceptance of homosexuality, and they had received a lot of blessings, so it made sense for Fang Rongyu to call Xie Ke ¡°Uncle¡±. ¡°Didn¡¯t you come home with Xie Ke when the old man had his birthday? I thought this was ¡®meeting the parents¡¯,¡± Fang Rongyu couldn¡¯t understand. ¡°I don¡¯t know how many times Uncle and the family said that his life is all about you. I thought you were together a long time ago.¡± Fu Zhiyu shook his head and said, ¡°No, we are¡­ supposed to be just friends now.¡± He was very sure when he said this, but when he said it, his tone was a little inexplicably hesitant, and a ¡°supposed¡± appeared. Fang Rongyu looked at him with a very meaningful gaze. ¡°You¡¯re being called over there, go in and audition,¡± Fu Zhiyu frowned and averted her eyes, ¡°Don¡¯t be so nosy.¡± As a result of the final audition, the studio chose Fu Zhiyu. Advertisements Fang Rongyu was also magnanimous, came over to say goodbye, and even brought him some supplements from the nanny car, saying that Zhou Yu had brought them and that it was good for his health to eat more. ¡°I have watched the clip of your audition. It is indeed better than me. If it was me, I would have chosen you too.¡± Fang Rongyu said. He didn¡¯t feel uncomfortable about losing to Fu Zhiyu, nor did he have any thoughts because of Xie Ke. He knew in his heart that if Xie Ke had spoken out, there would be no audition at all. ¡°You and Xie Ke¡­ are actually quite suitable, but I can¡¯t say much about the matter between the two of you, so you decide for yourself,¡± Fang Rongyu couldn¡¯t help saying before he left. ¡°He really likes you.¡± After Fang Rongyu¡¯s car left, Fu Zhiyu stood still. He seemed to be thinking about life. Then he spoke by himself and said, ¡°I know.¡± After he joined the set, life became a lot busier, but the filming place happened to be not far from Xie Ke¡¯s house. So before the scene was changed, Fu Zhiyu could occasionally go home after he finished filming. He was very cautious in his usual life, but perhaps because the drama had received a lot of attention from the beginning and there were too many paparazzi following him, using all kinds of tactics, Fu Zhiyu couldn¡¯t prevent it. Today, he was awakened by a call from his assistant. Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t have an agent. He usually had few commercial activities, so he could pick his own appearances. However, for convenience, he still hired an assistant. The assistant usually only followed him when he was filming, and he didn¡¯t even know about him and Xie Ke. ¡°Something happened!¡± The assistant seemed to be anxious and panicked as if he had suffered a catastrophe, ¡°Take a look, the hot search doesn¡¯t go down!¡± The paparazzi got the material that exploded last night. Fu Zhiyu took a look. In fact, it wasn¡¯t that explosive. It was a series of photos of him and Xie Ke. He got out of Xie Ke¡¯s car, and then the other party put a coat on him. The two talked in front of the car for a while. Fu Zhiyu turned and went to the set. Xie Ke stood there, watching his back. He waited until he couldn¡¯t see Fu Zhiyu anymore before leaving, and then he was gone. The next few photos probably showed the car driving out of Xie Ke¡¯s house, and the rest was left to everyone¡¯s imagination. There were several explosive points in this incident. One was that Xie Ke had an awesome net worth and was a young talent. He had always been well-known to the public, and there were countless people who wanted to attract his attention. The second was that Fu Zhiyu was famous. He had had almost no scandals and dark spots over the years. This thing suddenly broke out, and people were very interested. The third was the movie. Many people speculated that his role as the second male lead was a covert operation, secured behind the scenes. Anyway, there was a mess of all kinds of things being said. Fu Zhiyu was quite calm. Before he finished reading the comments on the Internet, he saw that many malicious comments quickly disappeared, probably deleted forcibly. Xie Ke also reacted? Deleting comments was one aspect, but Fu Zhiyu felt that things like blocking public opinion were not the best way to go. Not long after, he received a call from Xie Ke. ¡°Are you at the hotel?¡± Xie Ke¡¯s tone sounded very anxious and worried, ¡°Zhiyu, don¡¯t come down yet. There are too many reporters below. The crew is also being followed today, so they can¡¯t film. There is a temporary shutdown over there. It¡¯ll continue when this matter is resolved. You wait for me in the room, I¡¯ll go over now, let¡¯s talk about it in detail, okay?¡± ¡°En.¡± Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t expect to cause trouble to the crew, and he was going to apologise to the director and the lead actors when the time came. Fu Zhiyu silently mused about it while he got out of bed and got dressed. When he slowly washed his face, he heard the sound of knocking on the door. As soon as he opened the door, Xie Ke couldn¡¯t help but step forward and hug him. Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t know where he came back from, but his coat was wet. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Zhiyu,¡± Xie Ke was very nervous, ¡°I, I didn¡¯t pay attention at that time, I didn¡¯t know someone was filming there.¡± Fu Zhiyu thought for a while and didn¡¯t push Xie Ke away. He stretched out his hand and patted him on the back, comforting: ¡°It¡¯s okay, this matter is not your responsibility.¡± Although Zhiyu said that, after all, it caused him trouble. At first, Xie Ke wanted to go to his official account to clarify this matter. He wanted to tell everyone that Zhiyu wasn¡¯t holding his thigh, let alone being nurtured. He was pursuing Zhiyu seriously and it had been several years. Now there were a few signs of progress but he was afraid they would be extinguished because of this matter. Before he was about to send the post, he changed his mind and stopped. He thought that if he sent it, it would also cause unnecessary pressure on Zhiyu. The only thing Xie Ke could think about was his beloved. ¡°Zhiyu, how do you want to solve it?¡± He asked cautiously, ¡°I¡¯ll do whatever you want.¡± ¡°Just make it clear,¡± Fu Zhiyu said indifferently, and asked him, ¡°Have you had breakfast yet?¡± Xie Ke was taken aback, shook his head subconsciously and said, ¡°Not yet.¡± ¡°Just in time, let¡¯s eat together,¡± Fu Zhiyu said. ¡°Before you came, the hotel brought breakfast over. It is quite rich, I can¡¯t finish it alone.¡± Xie Ke was a little confused. He didn¡¯t know why the topic suddenly switched to breakfast. When the two of them sat down, he seemed to have guessed something, turned on his mobile phone, and secretly flipped through Fu Zhiyu¡¯s public social account. This account was rarely updated, and the number of posts per year could be counted on the fingers of one hand. Fu Zhiyu¡¯s latest one already had a lot of likes. ¡°Thank you all for your concern. Xie Ke and I are currently trying to have a relationship.¡± CH 100 Xie Ke¡¯s current mood was like a roller-coaster; just when he felt that he was going to die, a surprise gift package suddenly fell from the sky. He spent a long time looking at Fu Zhiyu¡¯s post, word by word, afraid that he would misread a single one of them. Trying to have a relationship! To have a relationship! A relationship! Rounding up one to ten, it meant that he and Zhiyu were already married! Fu Zhiyu served him a bowl of porridge, but saw Xie Ke staring at his mobile phone in a daze, looking as if he was about to cry, so he knew what Xie Ke must have seen. ¡°Eat first,¡± he said, ¡°I didn¡¯t think much about it. I thought it was like this, so I posted it. Is it a problem?¡± No problem! No problem! How could there be a problem! Xie Ke¡¯s brain and heart were screaming, but he himself couldn¡¯t say a word. He just looked at his mobile phone and looked at the person in front of him, as if he had lost his ability to speak. Fu Zhiyu lowered his head and took a sip of the porridge, frowned, and put the spoon down. Probably used to the taste of Xie Ke¡¯s cooking, he felt that the porridge at the hotel wasn¡¯t cooked so carefully, so it was naturally not up to his taste. ¡°It¡¯s actually very complicated between us, but I don¡¯t know what to tell you now.¡± After Fu Zhiyu finished speaking, he felt that this sentence was a bit strange. He looked directly into Xie Ke¡¯s eyes, ¡°During this time, I actually haven¡¯t thought about my intentions clearly, but I think we can give it a try. That¡¯s why I said we¡¯re trying to have a relationship. Xie Ke, I¡¯m trying.¡± He couldn¡¯t say to Xie Ke something like ¡°I like you too¡± or ¡°I love you too¡±. At present, even if he said that, it would be a lie. He was now mostly grateful to Xie Ke. But after all that, it was worth a try, right? Not only to give Xie Ke a chance, but also to give himself a chance. Let the time judge whether you can find the person who is willing to stay together with you for the rest of your life. ¡°Can you give me time?¡± Fu Zhiyu paused and asked. Xie Ke stood up all at once, and the table was shifted by his movement. The bowl of porridge slid down the side of the table and fell to the floor. At this critical moment, this scene really killed the atmosphere. Xie Ke glanced at the bowl of porridge that had been broken, and felt as if he had sobered up. At least he had regained the ability to speak. He took a few steps over to Fu Zhiyu and hugged him tightly. ¡°I¡¯m willing to give you time, as long as you want,¡± he murmured, ¡°Zhiyu, I seem to have been waiting for this moment for a long time. I¡¯m really happy to hear you say that. I, I love you, Zhiyu, I¡¯ve always loved you¡­¡± Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t push him away and let him hold him. By the end of Xie Ke¡¯s speech, his tone was a little choked, and his body trembled slightly as he hugged Fu Zhiyu. He was really happy. Advertisements Because the crew was shut down for a day, the two of them didn¡¯t leave the hotel. Xie Ke was remotely dealing with public opinion issues on the Internet and deleted some excessive and malicious comments. He also forwarded Fu Zhiyu¡¯s post, officially releasing what he wanted to say. ¡°The two of us are not only trying to have a relationship, but will also get married in the future.¡± This post contained a lot of his personal ideas, but Fu Zhiyu read it and didn¡¯t say anything. The crew also clarified the casting in a timely manner. The director was a highly respected person, and the male and female leads also stepped in to speak for Fu Zhiyu, saying that he performed extremely well in the audition and was the most suitable person for this role. In this way, there were much fewer people gossiping. After this public opinion incident, people¡¯s attention was quickly attracted by other things, and for Fu Zhiyu and Xie Ke, life gradually returned to calm. But after it calmed down, it seemed to be a bit different from the past. Fu Zhiyu went home with Xie Ke during the New Year this year. There were many messy relatives, not all of them friendly, but the old man in the family liked him, and Xie Ke was there, so others didn¡¯t dare to say much. It was true that Zhou Yu looked a bit weird. He probably couldn¡¯t accept that his former teammate had become the significant other of his most feared youngest uncle. But he had matured a lot over the years. Although he felt a little uncomfortable in his heart, at least he wouldn¡¯t demonstrate it on his face. However, he originally thought that his youngest uncle, who was cold and indifferent to everyone, was going to die alone. When he saw Xie Ke lower his head and beg for a kiss, Zhou Yu¡¯s expression still cracked uncontrollably. Falling in love was really scary. All in all, the two got a lot of blessings. After Fu Zhiyu finished filming the movie, he took a long break. He lived with Xie Ke, and the two naturally became closer. Because of previous memories, Fu Zhiyu had some shadow over being intimate with Xie Ke. But they started slowly from holding hands, and both of them gradually became familiar with this relationship. Although Fu Zhiyu was trying to accept it, as he had said, in comparison with what Xie Ke was giving him, what he was giving Xie Ke was not in the same class. There were times when he would be uncomfortable, saying to Xie Ke that there was no need to do this. For example, his food and clothing didn¡¯t need to be taken care of in his daily life, and he didn¡¯t expect that Xie Ke would do something for him if he just said a word casually. ¡°You don¡¯t have to be so nice to me,¡± Fu Zhiyu said, ¡°Just¡­ just be normal.¡± But when he said this, Xie Ke would look at him with a very uncomprehending look. ¡°It¡¯s not that exaggerated, is it? It¡¯s already normal,¡± he said, even a little regretful, ¡°There is still a lot more to do, it¡¯s a pity¡­¡± Whatever was done wasn¡¯t much as long as it was for the person in front of him. After living in this world for so long, sometimes Fu Zhiyu would forget what his true identity was. He and Xie Ke gradually became an impeccable couple of lovers. It seemed that they had never had those memories of the past. Some new and beautiful memories gradually replaced the bad ones from before, and the shadows caused by Xie Ke were also erased by Xie Ke one by one. When he finally left this world, his body was already old. Time seemed to have passed very quickly. Fu Zhiyu held Xie Ke¡¯s hand and looked at him. Suddenly he thought that everything was a big dream. But the man in front of him had always been by his side. ¡°Zhiyu,¡± Xie Ke hugged him as tenderly as always, ¡°will we meet again?¡± Fu Zhiyu nodded and replied, ¡°We will.¡± ¡°That¡¯s good.¡± Xie Ke leaned closer and kissed his forehead, and then Fu Zhiyu heard him say softly in his ear: ¡°I love you.¡± There were many things he wanted to say. For example, after meeting Zhiyu in this life, he hadn¡¯t been unhappy for a moment, and for example, how much he didn¡¯t want to let go. But a thousand words only came together into one sentence. ¡°Zhiyu, I love you so much¡­¡± This scene reminded Fu Zhiyu of the last time they parted. He lowered his eyes and listened to these words. Xie Ke didn¡¯t hear his response for a long time. He only heard a reply from Fu Zhiyu at the last moment. ¡°Me too. I¡¯ve fallen in love with you all over again,¡± Fu Zhiyu said, and then sighed softly, ¡°Round and round, Xie Ke, we will be together. After you leave, you have to remember to come to see me. You can¡¯t forget it anymore.¡± Not long after Xie Ke left this world, Fu Zhiyu also returned to the system space. When he first came back, he was a little unaccustomed, he had a feeling of being in a different world and was dizzy. He sat in the chair for a while, a bit unsteady, but the voice of the World Consciousness attracted his attention. ¡°That world has returned to normal.¡± Advertisements When Fu Zhiyu heard this voice, he felt his head ache even more. ¡°You simply had another agenda,¡± he accused, ¡°It¡¯s the Lord God who solves all such systemic problems, but this time it was me. You already knew Xie Ke was in there.¡± ¡°What do you mean, another agenda? Don¡¯t talk nonsense,¡± the World Consciousness was very serious. ¡°The reason that world was stuck was that there was still an actor in it. A world with an actor naturally cannot be transformed into a free world. You helped bring the actor out and the problem was solved. Isn¡¯t that great? The Lord God is also very busy, you happen to have time, so help it too.¡± Listen to your nonsense here. Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t want to argue with the World Consciousness about it. After hearing this, he also grasped the point and asked, ¡°After Xie Ke left, where is he?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± the World Consciousness said, ¡°The little things about the actors are all managed by the Lord God. Go and ask it.¡± It was really tiring to talk to the World Consciousness. Fu Zhiyu planned to go to the Lord God, but turned back halfway. ¡°When I went to that world, I replaced Lin Yu¡¯s identity. Where did Lin Yu¡¯s data go?¡± After borrowing someone else¡¯s identity for so long, Fu Zhiyu felt that he should have cared about it, but he couldn¡¯t contact the outside when he was in the world, so he didn¡¯t have an opportunity to ask until now. ¡°Before you came over, he signed the actor¡¯s agreement, and he had already left the world to be the actor, otherwise you wouldn¡¯t be able to get in,¡± the World Consciousness did know this, ¡°If you are interested, you can also go and see him. His number is¡­ um¡­ let me check¡­ 20367, the task was completed quite well.¡± Fu Zhiyu said ¡°Oh¡±, then squinted his eyes and asked rhetorically: ¡°Didn¡¯t you say that you don¡¯t care about the little things about the actors? So you can check it, huh?¡± The World Consciousness was very suspiciously silent for a while, and then replied in an evasive manner: ¡°I¡¯m so busy, I¡¯ll go first.¡± Busy? I think you are too idle. Fu Zhiyu turned around and went to find the Lord God, but when the Lord God heard his question, he was also confused. ¡°I know about Lin Yu, but Xie Ke¡­¡± the Lord God said, ¡°I haven¡¯t received any news. Are you sure it was him in that world?¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure it¡¯s him,¡± Fu Zhiyu said, ¡°It must be him.¡± ¡°I really don¡¯t know,¡± the Lord God sounded very honest, ¡°If the World Consciousness doesn¡¯t tell you, maybe it has its own considerations.¡± But when Fu Zhiyu tried to contact the World Consciousness again, there was no response, as if it was really busy. After several attempts, Fu Zhiyu couldn¡¯t help but feel somewhat anxious. Finally one day the Lord God took the initiative to give him some news. ¡°There is a new manager in the system space.¡± The tone of the Lord God sounded a little strange, ¡°He is said to be sent to be in charge of the actors, and he took away part of my responsibilities. Do you¡­ want to take a look?¡± Fu Zhiyu originally thought that the World Consciousness had made another ball like the Lord God, but the tone of the Lord God sounded so strange that his heart pounded and he subconsciously thought of what he had been worrying about recently. It¡¯s better to be him. Otherwise, if the World Consciousness continued to play its games, Fu Zhiyu felt that sooner or later he would kill it. He walked from his quarters to the master brain, but before he made a few steps, he saw a man standing there. The man stood there stupidly, hesitating, and when he saw Fu Zhiyu come out, he first froze, and then looked like he was going to run. But he just took a few steps back and stopped. ¡°Zhiyu,¡± Xie Ke lowered his head and called his name anxiously, ¡°I¡­¡± Before he could finish his sentence, he was hugged by Fu Zhiyu. ¡°Scared me to death,¡± he complained in Xie Ke¡¯s arms with a sigh of relief, ¡°I really thought you were gone.¡± Xie Ke was very pleased. He hugged Fu Zhiyu as if holding a treasure. After a while, he lowered his head and kissed Zhiyu¡¯s hair. ¡°Why are you standing outside?¡± Fu Zhiyu looked up and asked him, ¡°Why didn¡¯t you come in and find me?¡± Xie Ke opened his mouth. He couldn¡¯t describe what he was afraid of for a while, and finally only managed a sentence: ¡°I remembered what happened before.¡± Compared with him who had lost all his memories apart from the deepest impression in his heart, Xie Ke, who remembered everything, was not as confident as back then. Even though he remembered the process of Zhiyu gradually softening and accepting him, now he could barely trust his own memory. He didn¡¯t expect that he could still be accepted by Zhiyu. He was afraid that as soon as he went in, Zhiyu wouldn¡¯t be like that, so even that beautiful memory would be shattered. When he stammered out his thoughts, Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t know whether to cry or to laugh. He knew that Xie Ke was actually very insecure and was very afraid of him leaving when he was in that world, let alone now when he remembered everything. ¡°You had no memories, but I had. In that world, I really wanted to try it again with you,¡± Fu Zhiyu sighed, and then said, ¡°On the contrary, sometimes I was afraid that you would not be able to hold on. I¡­ Sometimes I didn¡¯t like you as much as you liked me.¡± Fu Zhiyu, who was passionate and desperately in love in the first life, no longer existed, after all. Even if he wanted to be with Xie Ke again, he couldn¡¯t go back to being the same. Xie Ke heard him say this, but he didn¡¯t feel that something was wrong at all. A big stone fell from his heart, and the corners of his mouth curled up in an uncontrollable smile. ¡°It¡¯s okay, Zhiyu,¡± Xie Ke said, ¡°As long as you are willing to like me even a little, it is already a big surprise to me.¡± He lowered his head and cautiously kissed the corner of his beloved¡¯s lips. Fu Zhiyu gave him a funny look and took the initiative to really kiss him, finally biting him a little. Xie Ke hissed. Although he was bitten, he still looked like a fool who was sweetly in love. ¡°But you still have to explain to me clearly,¡± Fu Zhiyu said, ¡°What happened in between?¡± Many things the World Consciousness and the Lord God had explained to him, but there were still many things he didn¡¯t know. There was nothing Xie Ke couldn¡¯t say to him, so he told him everything. ¡°In fact, the World Consciousness has been testing me all the time. Because its first test of ¡®His Name Will Live On in History¡¯ didn¡¯t meet its requirements, the test has not stopped.¡± Xie Ke said, ¡°Even when the world rebooted, there was its shadow.¡± The abilities that Xie Ke showed during the reboot of the world were much higher than the ones he had revealed in ¡°His Name Will Live On in History¡±, which was what the World Consciousness wanted to see. In the end, it was Fu Zhiyu who made him pass. The World Consciousness had never wanted the actors to become mindless, ruthless task machines. All the worlds had become alive, and if the actors had not changed, they wouldn¡¯t be able to keep up with reality. Therefore, for the World Consciousness, the Xie Ke it saw in this process was multifaceted, capable, experienced, keen and intuitive. For example, back then, he relied on some clues to quickly discover the source of Fu Zhiyu¡¯s abnormality, and when it came to the critical moment, he was decisively willing to give everything for the person he loved. This test was considered to have been passed. ¡°The authority I get now is the authority it planned to give me back then,¡± Xie Ke said, ¡°So at the last moment, it decided to keep me.¡± According to Xie Ke¡¯s thoughts, if the World Consciousness really didn¡¯t keep him, even if he was unwilling to leave Fu Zhiyu, he would definitely not be able to stay, let alone be here today. But it took time to go through this process and to recover, and there was still the matter of the authority granted. Xie Ke showed Fu Zhiyu his actor panel, and the numbers on it had changed. As the Lord God said, 027 had disappeared, and the number on Xie Ke¡¯s actor panel was 001. ¡°I am also familiar with all this, but I find that I don¡¯t know a lot about this world,¡± Xie Ke lowered his head and couldn¡¯t help but kiss his beloved baby again. ¡°All things considered, Zhiyu is my senior. Excuse me, can Senior take the time to teach me?¡± Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t push him away. After letting him kiss greedily, he smiled and replied: ¡°The two of us go round and round, but we still have to work for the World Consciousness.¡± Although it was quite a troll, the World Consciousness was the origin of all the worlds. It was annoying, but it was never vague in major matters, and all the choices it made were right. Just the little things¡­ Other things could be explained, but Fu Zhiyu deeply suspected that the stuck world was most likely the bad taste of the World Consciousness, even though it didn¡¯t admit it. But it was really good to have that world. Without the sincere and open Xie Ke at that time, the two of them each would have a heavy past in their hearts, and even if they met again, they probably would have to make many detours. Forget it, Fu Zhiyu thought after a while. Although sometimes he was so angry that he really wanted to kill the World Consciousness, overall, it wasn¡¯t bad. Now, he was also beginning to look forward to his future life. CH 101 Apart from a slightly clingy lover and an occasionally perverted boss, Fu Zhiyu felt that his life was flawless. In the past, Fu Zhiyu¡¯s quarters were next to his operation room. After working his ass off for the World Consciousness, it took him just a few steps to get there. It was more like a place to rest after work, very simple and cold. He didn¡¯t care about living like that before, but after Xie Ke came back, he became more and more uncomfortable. Fu Zhiyu felt that it would be impossible to live like this anymore, and he asked the World Consciousness for a place. The World Consciousness disagreed at first, saying reluctantly, ¡°What are you going to do? You can live wherever you want in such a large system space. Live next to the master brain, I don¡¯t care. I can¡¯t afford to feed you if you want this and that!¡± ¡°I do so much work for you, what¡¯s wrong with a place? There are wages and bonuses for other people for their work. I don¡¯t want money but you won¡¯t even give me this.¡± Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t understand, ¡°It¡¯s not troublesome, it¡¯s just a matter of moving a finger for you.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t have fingers!¡± ¡°This is a metaphor, you know,¡± Fu Zhiyu reached out to the void, ¡°Give me a piece of land, I want to build a house.¡± ¡°I won¡¯t!¡± The World Consciousness changed its tune on the spot, ¡±Who said I didn¡¯t give you a reward, wasn¡¯t there Xie Ke?¡± ¡°Xie Ke was originally mine, he doesn¡¯t count,¡± Fu Zhiyu firmly denied its statement, and continued to reach out, ¡°Hurry up.¡± The World Consciousness: ¡°¡­¡­¡± In the end, it did it. What Fu Zhiyu called ¡°a piece of land¡± was actually a separate space that both he and Xie Ke could enter. It was a bit like the personal space of an actor, but it was much more flexible and changeable than that. It was a bit like a small world. Fu Zhiyu was the designer of this small world, where he could build his own house as he pleased. At the beginning, he made his home look like Xie Ke¡¯s villa in the mountains. They had lived there for a long time and had long been used to it; but in addition to this, there was a large area outside. Fu Zhiyu planted flowers and vegetables there. Although there was no hunger in the system space, the two of them would return home after work, pick some vegetables from the yard, cook a meal together and then eat it slowly. It was also a very happy experience. It should be said that between lovers, no matter what they do, they are happy. After Xie Ke had the new authority, he really had a lot of work. The World Consciousness knew that if you wanted a horse to run, you had to let it graze, and it still wanted to give the actors some benefits. Nowadays, there was a large pool of actors and actresses, and Xie Ke was one of the few who had no place to play. Since the World Consciousness discovered that the people in the worlds of the books had become alive, it had begun to select a large number of actors from them. Some were tempted by the benefits given by the World Consciousness, and many people voluntarily came here to take risks, such as Lin Yu, who enjoyed this feeling very much. After all, this kind of experience was difficult to have in the ordinary world. With the increase in the number of actors, not only did the management difficulty increase, but the Lord God always needed Fu Zhiyu and Xie Ke to help, and they also needed more things. Although many actors liked the excitement of acting, they also needed to rest. The World Consciousness intended to open up the free worlds as a place for the actors to rest and travel, and also for them to relax. But after all, the actors were different from the people in those worlds, and the World Consciousness was afraid that they would interfere with the development of the free worlds. Speaking of which, it was a matter of ¡°degree¡±, and this ¡°degree¡± needed to be guaranteed by well-established rules. Xie Ke was doing this. Advertisements When two people share the same workplace, there is nothing to separate them. Fu Zhiyu and Xie Ke cooperated tacitly, and things were not difficult to do. In general, it was a stable and happy life. However, Xie Ke¡¯s clingy nature was sometimes quite troublesome. Most of the time, Fu Zhiyu indulged him. He knew that Xie Ke¡¯s sense of security came from this and it was also appropriate for lovers to spend more time together. But sometimes Xie Ke was getting too much, and Fu Zhiyu was also angry. Comparing the matters of the heart, Fu Zhiyu felt that even at the beginning, when he was willing to follow Xie Ke with all his soul, he wasn¡¯t so clingy. Lovers are not siamese twins. There is no need to be together all the time. At first, Xie Ke just wanted to see him. If he hadn¡¯t seen him for a while, after a little longer, he would unconsciously panic. Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t pay much attention to this. The two of them worked and lived together, and rarely separated. He was also willing to get along with Xie Ke. This kind of long-lasting relationship made him feel comfortable. But when Xie Ke got insatiable, he stopped being comfortable. This was the system space. Fu Zhiyu¡¯s body was much better than that of ordinary people, but when he got up with a backache every morning, he still felt that the World Consciousness was biassed. At least Xie Ke¡¯s physical strength and stamina were obviously much better than his own! He really asked, and the World Consciousness replied to him like this: ¡°Xie Ke¡¯s body is newly made according to the data of the original actor, and he was the top in everything. So in theory, it is indeed better than yours. After all, your body is still the one from the world in the book. Although it has changed, the foundation is the same. But the ability is a combination, not just physical fitness. Don¡¯t worry. If you get into a fight, you can still beat him. If you can¡¯t, I¡¯ll help you. I love you the most.¡± ¡°Well, you don¡¯t need to add the last sentence, it¡¯s superfluous, you can go now,¡± Fu Zhiyu rubbed his waist, ¡°I¡¯m very tired today, I¡¯m not going to work anymore, you can do it yourself.¡± The World Consciousness: ¡°¡­¡­¡± ¡°Why don¡¯t I reinforce you a bit more?¡± the World Consciousness mused, ¡°No matter what, don¡¯t delay your work¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s better for you to weaken Xie Ke a little than to strengthen me. If he finds out, he will be able to toss me even more,¡± Fu Zhiyu finished rubbing his waist and couldn¡¯t help rubbing his frowning brow. ¡°I want to rest, you hurry up and go.¡± ¡°Weaken?¡± The World Consciousness was really thinking about it, ¡°Shall I try it?¡± Fu Zhiyu: ¡°No, don¡¯t touch him, forget it, I can¡¯t count on you, I will solve the matter between the two of us by myself.¡± That night, Xie Ke was driven to sleep in the study. Fu Zhiyu¡¯s iron heart that hadn¡¯t demonstrated itself for a long time played a role at this time, and no matter how Xie Ke begged for reassurance, it was useless. ¡°Reflect on yourself and see if you dare to toss me like this in the future,¡± Fu Zhiyu closed the door and locked it easily, ¡°Hurry up and go, I¡¯m going to get a good night¡¯s sleep.¡± Xie Ke was aggrieved, but he didn¡¯t dare to argue when Fu Zhiyu was assertive, so he could only slink away to sleep in the study. Fu Zhiyu was comfortable for a few days, but as time went on, he thought it would be better to let Xie Ke come back; it wasn¡¯t really necessary to separate. The past few days must have been enough for him to reflect clearly. But when he opened the door of the study, he didn¡¯t see Xie Ke. Had he gone out? They didn¡¯t use the study often; except for some furnishings and books that had been added, there was nothing else. Xie Ke¡¯s bed was tidy. Fu Zhiyu glanced at it and found a strange lump under the pillow. He lifted the pillow and took a look. Below was a photo album. A photo album? Fu Zhiyu was a little confused; he had never seen this thing at home. He opened it and took a look, only to find that it was full of pictures of him. Advertisements There were all kinds of photos: him working with his head down, reading books, or eating. Many of them were candids, and he didn¡¯t even notice that he had been photographed. The first ones were the most recent, and the ones further back were more distant. There were photos of him as an actor in that middle-level world, and there were photos of him in a suit, facing the spotlight at the award ceremony. Further back, it was him in the time of ¡°His Name Will Live On in History¡°. There were pictures of him dressed plainly and walking idly on the street; there were those of him touching the growing crops in the field, and there were those of when he was still in the palace, sitting on the swing in the garden and swinging slowly. Fu Zhiyu looked at these photos and felt a lot of nostalgia. When he thought about it, it seemed that a long time had passed. This photo album was arranged in chronological order, but the last one Fu Zhiyu saw was him wearing the red sacrificial costume, sitting in the exquisite sedan chair, tilting his head to look at Xie Ke. It was about the most carefully dressed he had ever been, and it completely captured Fu Zhiyu¡¯s extremely beautiful face. It didn¡¯t seem to be a photo, and Fu Zhiyu didn¡¯t know what method Xie Ke used to record his memory in this way. ¡°Zhiyu?¡± At this moment, Xie Ke pushed the door open. Seeing Fu Zhiyu, he smiled first, and then showed him what he was holding in his hand. ¡°I just went out to bring this for our family. There is a new world on the side of the Lord God. There was a small problem in the process of completing the task, I helped solve it. The Lord God also used its authority to get me a little invention from that world. Come here, it can be regarded as furniture.¡± Xie Ke said, ¡°Let me show it to you?¡± It was actually a little trick. After it was set up, the ceiling of the room became like a starry sky, within reach. Fu Zhiyu stretched out his hand, and the shining stars like grains of rice slowly flew around him, as beautiful as a dream. ¡°It¡¯s quite interesting,¡± Fu Zhiyu smiled. ¡°We can put it in our room and play with it sometime.¡± Xie Ke captured the words ¡°our room¡± very sensitively. Was there no need to live in the cold study anymore? ¡°It can also change modes, it can become clouds or something. Zhiyu, let me show you?¡± ¡°Can it change into this?¡± Fu Zhiyu showed him the photo album in his hand. Xie Ke: ¡°¡­¡­¡± He couldn¡¯t figure out what Fu Zhiyu¡¯s smiling expression meant, but it didn¡¯t look like he was angry. He was now very afraid that Zhiyu would be angry. ¡°It was taken from my memory. I always felt that it felt unreal, and I was afraid that I would forget it again, so I used the photo album,¡± he said honestly. ¡°When you were angry a few days ago, I couldn¡¯t sleep, so I couldn¡¯t help but look at it.¡± ¡°Why put this at the end?¡± ¡°This one was the deepest memory. I secretly went to look at you at that time.¡± Xie Ke saw that one, and his eyes became gentle unconsciously. ¡°It was red, very much like a wedding dress. You were also very beautiful. But I could only look at you from afar.¡± Xie Ke had no hope at that time, so he regarded this moment as part of his imagination, thinking that on the day when they could really get married, Zhiyu probably would be so beautiful. What Xie Ke didn¡¯t say to Fu Zhiyu was that when he finally came to the end of the journey and was ready to die, he felt that he had no future, and he still remembered that one look. That moment was very important to him. Even though Zhiyu had come back now, the sweetness of the memory when there was no more hope was something he would never forget. CH 102 Fu Zhiyu remembered and felt that he seemed to have an impression. At that time, he saw Xie Ke in the crowd, but there were too many people, and that feeling flashed by. ¡°Why aren¡¯t there earlier ones?¡±Fu Zhiyu asked, ¡°No first life, not a single one. Do you have any others?¡± He thought it was quite interesting and wanted to see more. ¡°Of course it¡¯s not just this one, there are many more,¡± Xie Ke pushed open the cabinet behind the bed, which was full of photo albums, ¡°Slowly, I have made so many.¡± ¡°But¡­¡± He paused for a while, his voice much lower, ¡°There are none from that time.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°I wasn¡¯t good to you at that time,¡± Xie Ke couldn¡¯t help but hug him tightly, ¡°I¡¯m scared to think of it.¡± Fu Zhiyu was taken aback for a moment, then smiled and said, ¡°It¡¯s okay, I¡¯ve let it go, that¡¯s the thing of the past.¡± ¡°I haven¡¯t let it go,¡± Xie Ke said. ¡°I don¡¯t want to think of it, I feel distressed when I think of it, and I can never let it go.¡± Fu Zhiyu smiled. He didn¡¯t say anything comforting at this time, just kissed Xie Ke¡¯s face, hooked his palm with his fingers and whispered to Xie Ke¡¯s ear: ¡°Let¡¯s go back, go back to our room.¡± The days of living in the study were over. Xie Ke restrained himself a lot later, and after a few more days, Fu Zhiyu took the initiative to take him into the study. Xie Ke was a little afraid of staying in this place again, but Fu Zhiyu just pushed open the door of the cabinet. ¡°I asked the Lord God and made some too. Would you like to take a look?¡± Fu Zhiyu asked him, ¡°Look at you through my eyes.¡± Xie Ke couldn¡¯t stop his hands from shaking from the moment he heard him say these things. Fu Zhiyu¡¯s arrangement was the same as Xie Ke¡¯s. They were all arranged from back to front. Most of the time, Xie Ke was looking at Fu Zhiyu. But further back to the past, it was a bit different. Fu Zhiyu had also recorded the first life. Xie Ke didn¡¯t dare to look. He saw his eyes change abruptly in the pictures; when he looked at Zhiyu, what was left was only the coldness of the man who tried his best to suppress his feelings. ¡°Zhiyu, I¡­¡± Xie Ke wanted to explain, but was stopped by Fu Zhiyu. ¡°I liked you very much at that time, I really liked you,¡± Fu Zhiyu took the photo album in his hand, ¡°Not only because of the grace of saving my life, that was just the beginning. Xie Ke, you are a very powerful person. At that time, I was a bit softer, really not as good as you in many things. The person I adored was excellent in every way, except that he didn¡¯t love me.¡± ¡°No, I loved you very much even then¡­¡± ¡°I know now,¡± Fu Zhiyu kissed his face and said to him in a gentle tone, ¡°Fortunately, we didn¡¯t miss it.¡± Advertisements He paused for a while, and then said, ¡°Xie Ke, I just want to tell you that we started again, not because I forgot the past, but because I still remember and I don¡¯t think it matters anymore. The same goes for you. You don¡¯t have to be careful about the past. Sometimes I get angry. It¡¯s normal. Couples who are in love will also get angry. You don¡¯t have to be so scared anymore. I won¡¯t leave you again.¡± ¡°Zhiyu¡­¡­¡± ¡°I may not express my feelings for you so obviously every day like I did at the beginning, but Xie Ke, if I didn¡¯t like you enough, I wouldn¡¯t come back,¡± Fu Zhiyu said. ¡°You¡­ don¡¯t be so scared anymore.¡± Xie Ke didn¡¯t know what he could answer. Fu Zhiyu hugged him and felt his body shaking; his shoulder was wet. ¡°It¡¯s okay,¡± Fu Zhiyu said and smiled again, ¡°Should I make another wedding for you? Just wearing that dress.¡± In that middle-level world, they had a wedding, and there was a certificate. According to Fu Zhiyu¡¯s request, the wedding hadn¡¯t been too big. Xie Ke: ¡°!!!¡± He really wanted it. It was impossible to get that dress back from the past, but Fu Zhiyu made a similar one, and by the way, he also made one for Xie Ke. It wasn¡¯t like he was alone in getting married. His small world could be controlled by him, and Fu Zhiyu briefly turned it into his own residence back then, complete with red lanterns. Although there were only two of them, the atmosphere was warm and festive. Xie Ke was also very excited that day. ¡°I don¡¯t know what to say, Zhiyu, thank you,¡± Xie Ke hugged him and didn¡¯t want to let go. ¡°I¡¯m the happiest person in the world because you¡¯ve come back and are willing to be by my side. I didn¡¯t expect you to do this for me.¡± Fu Zhiyu had always been gentle. He didn¡¯t get as emotional as Xie Ke now, he was always somewhat muted, but he only had to do a little to make Xie Ke feel extremely happy. ¡°Let¡¯s live a good life from now on,¡± Fu Zhiyu said, ¡°We are all fine.¡± After that, Xie Ke also relaxed a lot. He was still very clingy, and sometimes still too concerned and cautious, but he had a lot more sense of security, and he suffered from fewer moments of worry. Soon after, Xie Ke¡¯s work was finished; the opened free worlds requested by the World Consciousness were basically ready, and some actors could go and try. After this was done, the two of them had a lot of free time. Xie Ke suggested that they could also go and have a look. ¡°You¡¯ve been in the Lord God¡¯s space for too long, I¡¯m afraid you will get bored,¡± he said. ¡°Don¡¯t you want to go back to ¡®His Name Will Live On in History¡¯ to take a look?¡± Advertisements Fu Zhiyu really wanted to, and they didn¡¯t need to prepare anything, so they just went. This time, they didn¡¯t have to occupy other people¡¯s bodies, just using their own. The flow of time in the world of ¡°His Name Will Live On in History¡± was very fast, and the degree of development was now better than that of the middle-level world that Fu Zhiyu had been to. As the World Consciousness said, the data of this world was circulating, and those who were deep in Fu Zhiyu¡¯s memory were all living well even though they had forgotten him in reincarnation. His blood was indeed useful. He visited everyone in the Yuan family, and Xie Ke accompanied him. They were no longer a family or even knew each other, but they were always doing well. His mother had lived a long life. She was now an elegant old lady who lived in a villa area that ordinary people couldn¡¯t get in. She had her own filial children and grandchildren. It took Fu Zhiyu a while to see her. She happened to go out that day and seemed to be picking gifts for her family in the jewellery store. Although her hair was grey, she looked in good spirits. Fu Zhiyu was standing at the end of the counter, and she happened to see him just as she walked there. She looked at the young man and was in a daze for a while. It was a very beautiful man, who looked to be in his twenties. His whole body seemed to be glowing, and there was nothing in the jewellery store that would be as attractive as him. Behind him was another man, taller than him, with his head slightly lowered, silent, standing there as if guarding him. When she saw him, in addition to being amazed, there was also an indescribable sense of familiarity, as if all kinds of thoughts rushed to her heart, making her feel like crying. ¡°¡­you are?¡± ¡°I¡¯m just a passerby,¡± Fu Zhiyu wanted to help her brush away the scattered hair on her forehead as before, but it was inappropriate. He held back and continued, ¡°You¡­ you¡¯re very nice.¡± What he said was a bit strange, but she didn¡¯t show any objection. The old lady just smiled softly and said, ¡°Child, there is fate between us.¡± Gradually they began to talk. Fu Zhiyu rarely spoke, it was she who kept talking about her life, her happiness, the happiness of not having suffered any hardship. ¡°Today I am going to celebrate my great-grandson¡¯s birthday and buy him a golden lock,¡± she said. ¡°I am very happy to meet you and talk to you about this.¡± ¡°Me too.¡± Fu Zhiyu smiled. He took out a hairpin from his sleeve and said softly: ¡°I can¡¯t stay here for too long. This¡­ is for you.¡± It was his mother¡¯s favourite hairpin back then. Strictly speaking, it was a very beautiful antique. No one wore such things anymore, and there was no way to comb such troublesome hair. The old lady didn¡¯t like to accept other people¡¯s things, but she was stunned when she saw the hairpin, so much that Fu Zhiyu stuffed it into her hand, and she didn¡¯t have time to push back. When she recovered, Fu Zhiyu was gone. Do people really have past lives? If not, why did that person, and this thing, look so familiar? Fu Zhiyu later went to see Mingdao. Unlike his mother, Mingdao was a little late in his reincarnation this time. Mingdao was a junior high school student. When Fu Zhiyu went to see him, he was wearing a school uniform, studying at school. He was no longer the Yuan Mingdao who relied on Fu Zhiyu with all his heart; he was now from a wealthy family with loving parents, and he was at the top of his class at school. Fu Zhiyu sneaked into the school playground to watch him play football. Countless young girls cheered for him. He looked really good, young, warm and beautiful. But when Fu Zhiyu went to that school, apart from Mingdao, he also saw something else. After the football match was over, someone left his history textbook on the seat. Fu Zhiyu took it and flipped through it, and saw the records of his era, and even his and Xie Ke¡¯s names appeared in it. Jilin had long ceased to exist, but that powerful dynasty would always be remembered by people. Many epoch-making practices that took place there were recorded. There was a history book written by Fu Yanxi himself. It had been well preserved and had been read and analysed many times by future generations. However, Fu Zhiyu still felt a little embarrassed when he saw someone playing him in the historical adaptation in the media. ¡°There are you in there, too, my goodness,¡± he couldn¡¯t help but hold his forehead, ¡°I don¡¯t even know what to say.¡± ¡°The plot is not reproduced well,¡± Xie Ke commented, having watched a few episodes in earnest, ¡°It says here that I was fighting you tit for tat, where was I?¡± Fu Zhiyu: ¡°¡­Don¡¯t watch it anymore, turn it off quickly.¡± At the end, the two of them went to the canal to take a look. The canal was still in use, but the river had been widened a lot, the surrounding area had been renovated, and the docks had become much larger. Huge cruise ships passed by the river, making a loud noise. Fu Zhiyu took Xie Ke there, and it was a different experience to look back on the past at this time. There were so many memories, good and bad, and almost everything had its twists and turns, but now when he looked back, he could just laugh it off. What mattered was the present. From the ship, the surface of the river was gilded with the light of the setting sun, and the sparkling light was very beautiful. Fu Zhiyu was lying on the windowsill of his room looking at the scenery, and Xie Ke was sitting next to him, watching him. After a while, he couldn¡¯t help but go over and kiss his eyes. ¡°Zhiyu,¡± he said softly, ¡°I love you and I will always love you.¡± He watched his beloved turn his head at these words, and those shining eyes looked at him with a smile, as if to say: ¡°Me too.¡± THE END