Chapter 1

Since the start of fall, it had been raining non-stop. Washing the blood down the imperial road, it soaked the black shoes of the visitor.

“Oh, Lord Xie,” the eunuch’s high-pitched voice rang out, holding up an umbrella while looking at his shoes in panic, “Your shoes are all wet! Someone, go and bring Lord Xie a new pair of shoes and socks! Are you all blind?”

The chief eunuch quickly made arrangements. the little eunuch next to him hurriedly ran away, his trembling body stepping on the stagnant water and splashing it all over.

The guards were lined up in two rows, looking ahead solemnly, and occasiionally glanced at the chief eunuch with disdain, as if looking at a dead body,

The great eunuch Wang Guoliang, was once a very powerful figure in court. He made people greet him with “long live for 9000 years” wishes in private (10000 for the ruling monarch).

Being in a high position had made him temperamental. There were countless just and loyal officials who died in his hands. He had even offended the person before him on multiple occasions.

The Xie family’s shu son, climbed up step by step, from the bottom of the nobility, originally it seemed that the position of prime minister was his limit, but who would’ve ever thought that he would revolt?

Oh no, who would dare to call him a rebel? It was the princes who rebelled, all he did was bring troops to clear the rebels on the emperor’s side.

Just this clearing swept away three imperial sons,leaving just an eight-year-old child and his mother, trembling and waiting for the King of Hell’s verdict. Everyone knows that the winds of Great Chu have turned. In the future, the man in front of him will only be able to block out the sky with one hand. [1]

Even Wang Guoliang can only bend over to clean his shoes.

As the rain fell harder, the man stepped onto the last step and said faintly to Wang Guoliang, “Stand down.”

Looking at his expressionless face, Wang Guoliang could not decipher if his ending is going to be good or bad. He could only make as submissive a gesture as he could, bowing his head and saying, “Yes, yes,” he hunched over and sent the man to the door, “Lord Xie, If you have any orders, please command.”

The man didn’t say anything, and his pretty eyes gave Wang Guoliang a sidelong glance.

He has extremely outstanding looks, his eyebrows were light, and from a distance, they looked like mountains near water, but with an indescribable meaning, as if it was a landscape ink painting, gentle yet shallow, but extraordinarily beautiful and profound. [2]

Twenty years ago, he was already a famous and powerful figure in Shengjing. And now, twenty years later, he has already changed from the lowly and despised shu-born Fourth Young Master Xie to a powerful minister, but his looks still looked timelessly outstanding which only blossomed further.

Wang Guoliang was slightly stunned by this look, but the man’s gaze did not linger for another moment as he raised his steps and walked into the middle of the main hall.

The hall had long been empty, and the man’s footsteps echoed loudly in the middle of the hall. He frowned and lifted the beaded curtain, then saw the woman behind it who was pretending to be calm.

She was wearing a gorgeous golden robe, a golden crown on top of her head, and a golden finger sleeve on her finger, looking very rich and beautiful, obviously dressed up to meet him.

She was pulling a boy by her hand, who was already terrified and trembling, not daring to make a sound but occasionally sneaking glances at the visitor.

The man looked at the woman on the seat, who was clearly frightened but still pretending to be calm and graceful. After a long time, he finally spoke out and slowly said, “In the future, you will be the Empress Dowager.”

The woman froze for a second, tears welled up in her eyes, and she said in a hoarse voice, “Fourth Brother ……”

Saying that she let go of the boy and rushed over like a young girl, rushing into his arms, hugging him, tears pouring down like rain.

“I know you will not leave me, Brother Xie. No one will ever be able to separate us again in the future ……”

“Wanqing ……” The man sighed, seemingly a little bewildered, his good-looking eyebrows furrowed slightly, and after a long time, he finally said, “In my heart, I have always treated you just like a little sister… …”

Just as the words left his mouth, he felt a pain in his abdomen, and before he could recover, he was stabbed several times by the other party.

He looked up in disbelief, and saw the woman in front of him with tears in her eyes, smiling hideously: “You…”

“Little sister?” The woman burst out laughing, “Who cares about being your little sister? If you can’t be the father of my child, then I’ll let Minister Zhang be!”

Minister Zhang?

He looked up suddenly and instantly came to a realization, his heart aghast.

I didn’t expect …… her to do it……

What I didn’t expect was that this guy, Zhang Sheng, actually had such great courage……

“Xie Zichen,” the woman watched him fall to the ground and thrust her knife into the ground fiercely, shouting angrily, “Go to hell!”

“Wan Qing!”

With a scream, Xie Zichen woke up from the dream.

Outside was the sound of autumn rain pattering, and the night wind was a little stronger, making the windows crackle. Xie Zichen gasped in bed, and a moment later heard someone outside the door say, “Young master, did you have a nightmare?”

“No problem.”

Xie Zichen slowly came back to his senses and spoke to the people outside, before closing his eyes and falling back onto the bed.

This was the second time he had dreamed about his previous life. The first time was when he returned to this body. At that time, he was only twelve years old and didn’t even have a subordinate around him.

At the beginning of the period, he thought that he might have had an extremely absurd dream, he dreamed that he had one day become a regent, and his fiance, to whom he was engaged in his mother’s womb, had become His Majesty’s noble concubine, if that wasn’t a dream then what was?

However, when he found out that he had read all the books taught by his husband overnight, and that the events in his dream had come true one after another, he could no longer regard this as a dream.

These were the things that were about to happen!

He would be betrayed several times in his life and eventually be killed at the hand of the woman he had treated like a sister since he was a child!

When he thought of this, he felt uneasy. After quietly thinking about it, he realized That there’s something more important than his fiance, Wang Wanqing  – the study companion selection for the imperial princes which was bound to happen in a few days.

Now that he was fourteen years old, he clearly remembered that when he was fourteen years old, the palace selected candidates for study companions among the children of the noble family.

There were only two children of the Xie family who were of the right age, Xie Jie, the Di son of the third branch, and him from the second branch.

Xie Jie as the Di son would’ve been preferred over him, the shu son. However, unfortunately, just a few days before the study companion selection, the clan school teacher and the family head praised his literary talent.

When Xie Jie learned of this, he was worried that he would compete for the position of study companion in the palace. He invited him on an autumn tour. he fell in Xie Jing’s trap, fell off his horse and broke his leg.

He was crippled for the rest of his life, which blocked his path to officialdom Had he not joined the third prince’s party as an adviser early on, and later the third prince ascended the throne and became the emperor……

Thinking of this, Xie Zichen closed his eyes and made up his mind.

In this life, he was far more excellent than in his previous life, not to mention the teachers in the clan school, even the teachers in the imperial school had praised his literary talent, and Xie Jie was bound to make mischief.

Only this time, he didn’t intend to wait for Xie Jie to scheme against him but planned to make the first move. But he has no one available in his hands.If he plans to do something, he needs to find someone who was not related to him in anyway…

Xie Zichen looked at the bed curtain and carefully considered everyone in the capital.

To find a person who had never crossed paths with him in the past, so that it would be difficult to associate with him while investigating……

To find someone who has a clean record and had people in his hands, so that it would be easier to do the job.

Find someone who is vulnerable and needs his help so that there is room for negotiation and alliance.

And find someone who had a good ending in the future……..

Taking these conditions into consideration, he went through all the noble sons in the capital in his mind, Xie Zichen suddenly had a headache. He found that no one seemed to meet all his requirements.

He tossed and turned in bed all night. When he finally got up in the morning with bloodshot eyes,his servant Ah Lai asked in concern, “Master, what’s wrong with you?”

Xie Zichen didn’t speak, he waved his hand and asked Ah Lai to put the crown on him, then got up and said, “Go to the Wang Mansion.”

He had a good relationship with Wang Ning, the shu son of the Wang family, and Wang Ning had a much wider social circle than he did, so he might be able to get some clues.

Ah Lai prepared the carriage and horse, Xie Zichen got into the carriage and headed for the Wang Mansion slowly.

Shengjing has always been lively, with crowds of people coming and going, Xie Zichen closed his eyes in the carriage. The noise outside  gave Xie Zichen a headache. He raised his hand and rubbed his temples.

At this moment, he suddenly heard the sound of a horse neighing and then the carriage came to an abrupt halt, Xie Zichen held onto the wall of the carriage, and before he could speak, he heard Ah Lai talking furiously: “Which family’s son are you, how could you ride like this?”

“I’m sorry.” A clear voice came over, the texture of this voice was like jade striking porcelain, unable to distinguish whether it belonged to a man or a woman, gentle and courteous, “I am Wei Lan from the Marquis of Chang Xin’s house, due to urgent matters, I have collided with your son, please forgive me. I will visit you some other time and apologize in person.”

After saying that, the man whipped his horse and rode away.

The fierce wind rolled up the curtains of the carriage, allowing Xie Zichen to see the young man outside from the carriage window.

The moonlight-colored wide sleeve robe, hair half pulled in a jade crown, he was in obviously rushing, but the person on the horse looked calm, just like a temperament cultivated in a century-old noble family, even the casual horse riding posture was extraordinarily calm and elegant.

Ah Lai spat in a low voice outside and drove the carriage forward again. Xie Zichen fondled the jade pendant on his waist, carefully recalling the name Wei Lan.

Marquis of Chang Xin Mansion, Wei Lan……

He pondered seriously.

Most of the marquises in the Great Chu received their titles as rewards during the founding of Great Chu, and the Marquis of Chang Xin’s ancestors were famous generals, and have been quite valued by the emperors in history.

Only this generation’s Marquis of Chang Xin was dull and unsociable. He could do nothing but fight. The emperor held a grudge against him as he did not help the current emperor in the battle for the throne, so he was sent to guard the border and did not return to Shengjing for more than ten years.

Later, Marquis Changxin died unexpectedly on the way back to Beijing, and his son inherited his title, but died of typhoid in less than two years .He was succeeded by Wei Yan from the second branch.

This Wei Yan was an insatiable two-timer, on the surface he was a follower of the crown prince’s faction. But in reality he was third prince’s spy. He was insatiable and greedy.

When he was working as a local prefect, he was extremely lawless, so Xie Zichen, who was the minister of punishment at the time, beheaded him. The Marquis of Changxin House has been in ruins ever since……

However, this was a matter of past life.

In this life, the Shizi named Wei Lan did not repeat the same mistakes. He emerged from nowhere, and by the time people noticed, he had already made many military achievements.

Legend has it that at the age of twelve, he ran away from home to the frontier, He started as a soldier at the lowest level, and only became famous at the age of fourteen when he assassinated General Di Jie in a battle with him and was awarded first-class military merit. Only a few days ago, he was called back from the frontier by the Emperor.

Thinking of this, Xie Zichen snapped open his eyes and said in a cold voice, “Go back to the house!”

“Huh?” Ah Lai froze, and then hurriedly said, “Yes, yes.”

He thought that the young master had a whim to imitate those pretentious noble sons who liked to turn back halfway when they lost interest, thinking it looked elegant.

However, Xie Zichen in the carriage had only one thought.

— Wei Lan.

He had never had any relationship with him in the past, he was an efficient man who left no traces, he had a private army in his hands, he had two uncles outside who were eyeing the position of Marquis of Changxin, and his inner mansion was said to be a mess……

No one can be more suitable than him to make the move!