Wei Xicheng held a piece of grass between his lips, chewing on it lightly. When the faint sweetness faded, he casually tossed it to the ground.
Seven days had passed since Yu Beiyan disappeared. During this time, the game had not experienced any bugs, and no one seemed to remember that a legendary player named Yu Beiyan had ever existed. As for him, a slightly unusual NPC, no one paid attention to him anymore.
He could go wherever he wanted, do whatever he pleased, and in this game world, all his wishes would come true—except for the fact that the system still showed no response.
“A bit boring.” Wei Xicheng sighed softly and lay down on the grass, gazing up at the vividly realistic blue sky within the game environment.
He had thought that sticking to Yu Beiyan every day was dull enough, but he never expected that life would feel truly boring only after that person was gone.
Thinking of Yu Beiyan, Wei Xicheng raised a hand to block the sunlight, letting the shadow cover his eyes as he spoke in a low voice, “System, teleport.”
Wei Xicheng had only intended to try once more, but unexpectedly, this time, the teleportation actually succeeded. He didn’t even pass through the system space before being directly sent to the next world.
SPLASH—
A basin of ice-cold water was poured over his head, drenching him so thoroughly that he couldn’t even open his eyes. Through his blurred vision, he saw a background of deep red and yellow intertwining, and in front of it stood a woman dressed in opulent, regal attire, pointing a sharp, accusing finger at him.
Her words were harsh and cutting, colder than the water dripping from his body.
“I don’t care if you’re a dragon or a worm, you will hold onto this position properly for Aijia! Watch over the emperor! Let him sober up properly here! We can’t have him causing trouble for Aijia every single day!”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Wei Xicheng heard a quiet response from someone gripping his arm tightly. They knelt and bowed as they watched the woman seated in the high position leave, yet the hands clamped onto his arms did not loosen in the slightest.
Emperor? Wei Xicheng shook his wet hair slightly, a bit surprised. It seemed like this time, his situation wasn’t looking too good.
A powerless emperor, while the woman in the high seat was so domineering—it was clear that he couldn’t afford to reveal his true nature too soon. Otherwise, he might quickly provoke the ruling party’s intent to kill him.
A mere puppet emperor. If they could prop up one, they could certainly replace him with another. They were just avoiding the hassle for now, as frequent changes to the throne would only risk turmoil in the empire.
Wei Xicheng lowered his head, allowing the water droplets from his hair to drip lightly onto the floor, concealing any trace of emotion on his face.
“Release Zhen.”
In the briefest of moments, Wei Xicheng had already absorbed the plot of this world. In truth, the original owner of this body wasn’t even that oppressed as an emperor—in fact, within the palace, he was free to do as he pleased.
Although he had been born a prince, he had been raised with endless doting. His elder brothers were all brilliant in both literature and military prowess, making it unlikely that the throne would ever fall to him. But fate had other plans—his birth mother, though stunningly beautiful, had a low status and died shortly after giving birth to him.
Stricken with grief over the loss of his beloved concubine, the former emperor disregarded all tradition and forcibly placed him under the care of the empress, instructing her to raise him as her own.
Thus, he soared to an unprecedented height overnight.
Unfortunately, the empress was merely a step-empress and had no children of her own. Being forced to take in the child of a lowly concubine left a bitter taste in her heart.
So, she ruined him.
But fate was unpredictable. No one expected that Heaven would play such a cruel joke on the step-empress—the emperor, still in his prime, suddenly died of an acute illness.
The step-empress had no children, and the other princes had already grown into capable young men, making them difficult to control. Carrying years of pent-up resentment, she took decisive action, joining forces with her powerful family to manipulate the situation.
Before the military-commanding princes could return, she installed the pampered, foolish child onto the throne.
“Although the new emperor’s abilities may fall slightly short compared to the princes, he stands out for his unwavering filial piety and virtue, rivaling even the noble kings.”
Wei Xicheng recalled the memory of that day—the day of the enthronement ceremony—where the woman in the high seat had spoken such blatant lies with a perfectly righteous expression to a room full of ambitious and battle-hardened royal brothers.
The princes, of course, were dissatisfied. But this was still their empire. There was no need to rush—the puppet could be pulled down in due time.
The enthronement ceremony had proceeded smoothly, and today marked the third day since the original emperor ascended the throne.
If the original had been given a choice, being an idle prince would have been far preferable to being an emperor.
All of his small hobbies had been forbidden the moment he took the throne. The slightest misstep would be magnified infinitely—scolded by officials in court during the day, then lectured by the empress dowager at night.
Today, he had merely made a few flirtatious remarks toward a familiar pair of palace maid sisters, yet the empress dowager had summoned him to her quarters and spent a long time lecturing him about “the mercilessness of history” and “how lust clouds judgment.”
He didn’t understand, nor did he care. But it seemed like a great many others cared, and when the empress dowager saw that he refused to listen, she lost her temper and had a basin of cold water dumped over him to “wake him up.”
Wei Xicheng rubbed his temples—this was a textbook case of a spoiled brat emperor.
The grip on his arm was too tight, and it hurt. Wei Xicheng turned his head, his gaze cold as he stared at the wet nurse still holding onto him.
“Zhen told you to let go.”
That fleeting chill startled the wet nurse into immediately loosening her grip. The other attendant, unable to hold onto the emperor alone, quickly let go as well, both kneeling to beg for forgiveness.
Wei Xicheng rolled his shoulders, shooting them a sidelong glance before kicking one of them lightly.
“Mother can scold me—but what do you think you are, daring to step all over Zhen?”
The one who had been kicked let out a breath of relief. The little emperor was still just a child—his earlier imposing presence was likely just a momentary outburst of anger.
“Your Majesty! Oh no!”
A shrill, panicked voice rang from outside. A small eunuch in palace robes dashed over frantically, his hurried movements betraying his inexperience. The other palace servants didn’t even need to look up to know—it was the emperor’s trusted head eunuch, Little Taozi.
“What happened to you, Your Majesty?! Come, let’s get you changed at once! What if you catch a cold?!”
Little Taozi glared at the nearby palace maids, scolding them while deliberately ignoring the two wet nurses kneeling on the floor.
The maids immediately dropped to their knees in panic, but Wei Xicheng waved his hand.
“It’s not their fault. I made Mother angry.”
Little Taozi’s eyes darted around before carefully choosing his next words. “Then shall we…?”
“Let’s go. I’ll come back to pay my respects later—by then, she’ll probably have calmed down.”
As he wrung out his wet sleeves and prepared to leave, the wet nurse suddenly called out.
“Your Majesty, please wait.”
“The Empress Dowager worries for Your Majesty’s health. She has ordered that dry robes be prepared for you before you leave.”
Wei Xicheng pursed his lips. “Fine.”
In truth, the empress dowager simply didn’t want anyone else to see him in such a sorry state—rumors could damage an emperor’s dignity, and the more fragile his image became, the shakier his position would be.
Walking along the stone paths of the palace, Wei Xicheng pondered whether he would encounter Yu Beiyan in this world.
Their relationship had always been one of natural progression—never explicitly spoken, but understood.
Now, however, he felt something unfamiliar. A sense of unease.
He shook his head.
“Back to my quarters.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
After crossing into this world, the system’s energy was once again nearly depleted, as if all the energy gained in the online game world had completely dissipated. Wei Xicheng sighed. The script didn’t reveal who the fated protagonist of this world was, nor did it provide any method to regain energy.
If he couldn’t find Yu Beiyan in this world, then he would truly be trapped here forever.
Wei Xicheng curled his lips into a smile. It didn’t matter. If Yu Beiyan was in this world, he would have lost all his memories, just like before, and wouldn’t remember anything from the previous world.
“Yan Bei.” Wei Xicheng couldn’t help but chuckle. With such an obvious name, who else could it be but him?
“Xiao Taozi!” Wei Xicheng sprawled across the bed carelessly, his boots still on, swinging his legs on the dragon bed.
“Your servant is here!” Xiao Taozi stepped forward, ready to listen to his master’s orders.
“Tell the Imperial Wardrobe Bureau to make me a few new outfits. I want to welcome my great general back with a grand reception!”
“Yes!” Xiao Taozi turned to leave but then hesitated, his face scrunching into a bitter expression before turning back. “Your Majesty, the Empress Dowager has ordered that since the late emperor has only recently passed, you must not dress too extravagantly.”
Wei Xicheng stroked his chin. That made sense. If he left too bad of an impression at first, it might provoke that man’s dislike.
But he also failed to consider that for years, the original host had been known throughout the capital as a royal playboy. Now that he was emperor, no one dared to openly criticize him, but Yan Bei had returned to the capital before and surely knew what kind of person he was.
“Then make it more solemn, something clean and dignified. A new robe, but not a dragon robe!”
“Understood!”
Having grown up alongside the original host, Xiao Taozi shared a bond with him that went beyond the usual master-servant relationship. He knew what kind of interactions pleased the emperor most, and sometimes he would even make small, deliberate mistakes just to amuse him.
The news that the emperor was ordering new clothes reached the Empress Dowager’s ears in less than three-quarters of an hour. She narrowed her phoenix-like eyes. “Welcoming the great general back, hmm? Hah.”
But then, a flicker of nostalgia flashed across her face—so fleeting it was almost imperceptible. She lightly tapped the soft fruit on the table with her finely manicured fingernail and spoke in an indifferent tone.
“Let him be. He’ll soon learn that man is not someone to be trifled with.”
“At least this way, he won’t be so restless all the time, giving this grieving widow a headache.”
The palace maids and senior attendants in the hall all held their breaths, quietly awaiting the Empress Dowager’s next command.
Author’s Note:
Wei Xicheng: Come and see the empire I have built for you!
Yu Beiyan: I was the one who conquered it… for you.