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. 

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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.

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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?