CH 81

Jiang Qingci couldn’t help but sob:

“Lu Yan, you’re a son of a b*tch… you’re not human!”

The people around looked at each other:

“What? Isn’t this the Qin King’s consort?”

“I heard that the Qin King and the young master of the Jiang Mansion were childhood friends. They must have been very close. After breaking off the engagement, the Qin King must hate the young master. But now… could it be that there are still unresolved feelings?”

“It must be, otherwise, he wouldn’t be so heartless towards the young master.”

“Should we choose another hostage?”

“But who dares to go to the Jiang Mansion and capture their beloved son?”

Jiang Qingci felt utterly humiliated, gritted his teeth, and silently remembered this debt.

He decided from now on…

He would never pay attention to Lu Yan again!

In his previous life, he had escaped from the Qin King’s mansion and died within two days. Lu Yan regretted not treating him better at the beginning and felt guilty, not eating or drinking for several days, and reflecting on himself every day. Later, he even rose up in rebellion for him, and after ascending the throne, he posthumously honored him as the Empress. Jiang Qingci was somewhat moved.

But now, that bit of sentiment was gone. No matter how Lu Yan regretted and pleaded in the future, he would never forgive him.

Unfortunately…

Ren Shuhan had no regrets, feeling that this had nothing to do with him.

Lu Yan had told Jiang Qingci that there would be dangers outside the mansion. Still, Jiang Qingci had rushed in without hesitation. Wasn’t he asking for trouble?

Moreover, Ren Shuhan had a feeling:

Although Jiang Qingci had been killed by his wife before his rebirth, his wife had been forced by the plot and hadn’t done anything wrong. Moreover, this script was likely chosen by the protagonist himself. Jiang Qingci might just be a protagonist who had lost his memories. What goes around comes around.

In the original world, the protagonist gong’s love for the protagonist shou was justified. Now, as the system had said, he was taking the path of self-pity.

But Ren Shuhan didn’t care. Even if Jiang Qingci was miserable, what did it have to do with him?

Ren Shuhan understood very well that even if he didn’t have the memories of his previous worlds, as Lu Yan living in this world, he would never like Jiang Qingci if the protagonist wasn’t surrounded by a halo. At most, he would have a little goodwill towards him at first. Now, he couldn’t be bothered to pay attention to his wounded soul. He directly notified the system to call for Wen Xin.

When Wen Xin arrived after hearing the commotion, the soldiers outside the hall were filled with fear, but none dared to enter.

Ren Shuhan sat on the dragon throne, wrote a long imperial edict, and arranged a new group of courtiers according to Lu Yan’s previous plans. He asked her to rewrite it and proclaim it.

But even though the edict was announced, there were no civil officials outside the door, and no one accepted the decree. As for the military officers, they were all appointed by Lu Bing himself.

The soldiers below were eager to surrender, but they were intimidated by their superiors and dared not act rashly. The leading officer still held Jiang Qingci hostage and was frozen in place, not daring to let go.

Wen Xin went back to report the situation.

“Do we need to rescue the Empress first?” She asked.

“No need, they dare not act,” Ren Shuhan said.

After thinking for a moment, Ren Shuhan opened the system’s superpower mall interface.

There was a category called “inhumane abilities,” with a note next to it saying “not recommended for the host to use,” so Ren Shuhan had never used it.

But he had seen it before and knew that there were two useful items inside. One was called “massive memory alteration,” and the other, even more inhumane, was called “massive character setting alteration.”

People couldn’t forcefully change others’ thoughts unless they used brainwashing or hypnosis methods, but those methods were slow and unreliable. So the only option was to forcibly change their memories or fate. Changing memories might lead to other accidents, so the safest way was to make them like puppets, following the script regardless of their inner thoughts.

But pressing this button would be like repeating what the protagonist had done.

“Forget it.”

Wen Xin: “?”

Ren Shuhan took out several concealed weapons from the system, coated them with tranquilizers, and handed them to Wen Xin. He instructed her to first deal with the leader and then let their own people take over the soldiers under them, leading them to announce the entry of the courtiers into the hall.

“Don’t worry about Jiang Qingci’s life or death on the surface,” Ren Shuhan instructed. “I will secretly assist you. Catching the thieves is the priority.”

Wen Xin thought to herself, so he still cares about the Empress deep down? He’s so straightforward. But hurting the Empress’ feelings this time would require a lot of effort to make up for it in the future.

Wen Xin: “Your Highness is wise.”

Originally, her abilities wouldn’t allow her to take the head of a general in the midst of a massive army. But now that the enemy’s morale was scattered, she followed Ren Shuhan’s instructions and spread the word, “Whoever kills Lu Yan’s dead loyalists can take their place, be promoted, and the Qin King will surely favor them.” Moreover, during the assassination and hostage-taking of Jiang Qingci, the leading officer suddenly acted slowly, just as Ren Shuhan had said. The mission was completed smoothly, and soon there were soldiers willing to surrender and rescue Jiang Qingci, making it effortless.

Throughout, Ren Shuhan didn’t intervene again.

The follow-up went even more smoothly.

The enemy didn’t need to be completely eliminated. Just killing one or two stubborn individuals would shake the entire alliance, especially since Lu Bing was already dead. Except for those who believed they wouldn’t be spared by Lu Yan, everyone else wanted to live. Moreover, with the remaining influence of Lu Bing and his old subordinates, as well as the dominance of Jiang Xiang1Government Minister’s faction among the civil officials, it was easier to negotiate.

Jiang Xiang’s full name was Jiang Zhe. He was a prime minister of three dynasties, and he was already old. Both of his sons were born late in his life, and they both didn’t want to get married. However, inexplicably, as soon as his illegitimate son was born, he arranged a betrothal for him with the younger prince, which was truly inexplicable.

Moreover, his legal wife was a perfect woman, deeply in love with her husband. However, for some reason, he favored his illegitimate son Jiang Qingyue more than his legitimate son Jiang Qingci. He even sent his legitimate son to the king’s mansion. It wasn’t until a few days ago, when Ren Shuhan transmigrated into the book, that he suddenly woke up and regretted it. He wanted to go to the Qin King’s mansion to bring his eldest son back, and he even began to dislike concubines and illegitimate children—

Displacing the legitimate with the illegitimate was a scandal no matter where it happened!

Yesterday, when Jiang Qingci returned home, Jiang Zhe quickly asked Jiang Qingci to find a way to come back.

“Whether it’s reconciliation or letting him divorce you, just get out of there as soon as possible. It will be easier to obtain success in the future!” Jiang Zhe even gave him ideas, making a gesture of beheading, “If it doesn’t work… take action!”

Jiang Qingci was full of suspicion.

What’s this about?

Go away, this damn family affection is ruining his cool and tragic character!

Seeing his beloved son not trusting him, Jiang Zhe was in a state of panic.

Fortunately, today, as soon as Ren Shuhan left the Jiang Mansion, Jiang Qingyue took the initiative to apologize to his parents and confessed about Ren Shuhan’s private meeting with him.

Jiang Qingyue’s mother: “What?!!!”

Madam Jiang was originally a gentle woman who rarely left her home. When she heard such news, she fainted on the spot. It took a lot of effort to revive her, and she knelt down and begged her husband, saying that this matter had nothing to do with her. The child was raised by the former wife since childhood, and she only hoped that her husband wouldn’t drive her out of the mansion.

Jiang Zhe was initially dizzy with anger, but after careful consideration, it seemed that there was only one way to go—

Surrender to the Qin King.

Now that he didn’t like Jiang Qingyue anymore, he had been spoiled by himself over the years. Moreover, seeing that the Qin King was unexpectedly unscathed, it would be better to go all the way, offer his son to the Qin King, and when the Qin King ascended the throne, there would be someone in the palace, and he could also retrieve his legitimate son.

“There’s also this.”

Jiang Qingyue, accustomed to such parents, calmly handed over a divorce letter.

“This is written by His Highness the Qin King to brother.”

Jiang Zhe was about to ask for this thing and hurriedly accepted it to carefully examine it. As he read on, suddenly news came from the palace:

“The Qin King is rebelling against the palace!”

“What?” Jiang Zhe was greatly shocked. So soon? Why the rush? Can I still form an alliance with him? “How many troops are there?”

“Only… one person, one sword…”

Jiang Zhe: “?”

Within a minute, another message came: “The, the Emperor has passed away…”

Jiang Zhe: “???”

After Jiang Zhe and the ministers and generals from the capital gathered and arrived at the palace, everything had already settled, and everyone seemed dazed.

Ren Shuhan wasn’t interested in politics at all and left everything to Wen Xin. He just glanced at Jiang Zhe and asked him, “I wrote a divorce letter to Jiang Qingci. Did he show it to you when he returned?”

Jiang Zhe hurriedly replied, “Yes, he did.”

“Once you’ve seen it, take him back. The palace doesn’t keep idlers,” Ren Shuhan hinted, looking around at the other courtiers, “Jiang Zhe has always been sensible. The capable should do more. Recently, he should worry more about the country.”

Jiang Zhe wiped the sweat off his forehead and accepted this difficult task, “Yes.”

With every new monarch comes a new set of courtiers. After being busy for two days, everything that needed to be done had been done. Those who needed to be escorted to prison or executed had been taken care of, and those who needed to be reinstated were quickly brought back to help. The label of rebellion was pinned on the two deceased leaders, and finally, there was some peace within and outside the capital.

Wen Xin, who had been serving closely, finally had some free time, but suddenly realized…

Ren Shuhan was somewhat gloomy.

Oh, she understood. He coveted the throne.

There were specific rules for ascending the throne, requiring courtiers to kneel and plead tearfully before the emperor could accept. So Wen Xin specifically informed Jiang Zhe that a country cannot be without a ruler for a day. Now that everything that needed to be done was done, they could inform the ministers to start performing.

Jiang Zhe was embarrassed: the loyalist soldiers hadn’t even arrived yet, and the situation was still uncertain. Was there a need to rush like this?

But Wen Xin was a close attendant, and Jiang Zhe had to believe her. Associating this with the regent’s thunderous methods and abnormal ability to take on thousands alone, he quickly organized the actors to take their positions.

The result was unexpected to everyone. Ren Shuhan was too impatient. With just one persuasion, he immediately agreed, without giving them any room to perform!

“Okay,” Ren Shuhan said absentmindedly, “you can go and prepare.”

The courtiers, prepared to cry for two more days or even bash their heads into pillars, were speechless.

This matter was settled like a child’s play, but Wen Xin observed that Ren Shuhan’s mood was still not quite right.

Because, in fact, he didn’t covet the throne, he only coveted his wife.

That night, Ren Shuhan sneaked into the Jiang family’s courtyard again and knocked on Jiang Qingyue’s back window.

Jiang Qingyue was just about to fall asleep. Expecting him, he opened the window, wearing only a white undergarment, his hair disheveled, and assessed him up and down to confirm that he wasn’t injured.

“Don’t look,” Ren Shuhan hugged him and rubbed against him, sniffing his hair, “Even if the entire army attacked, they couldn’t hurt me.”

“Then why did you come to see me?” Jiang Qingyue asked somewhat shyly.

He knew the new emperor was very busy and had many things to do, but he couldn’t help but complain because he missed his embrace so much, and he couldn’t be without it for a day.

“Ah, baby,” Ren Shuhan sighed with melancholy, “I’ve become the kind of person I never wanted to become.”

Jiang Qingyue: “…”

What a mess!

“I used inhumane skills,” Ren Shuhan looked at him solemnly.

…

At this time, in the Jing Prince’s mansion, which was conveniently located near the capital and still held border troops, the order to suppress rebellion had already been received, and trusted aides were eager to act, offering various suggestions.

“The Qin King has committed a great crime, and the capital is in chaos. Your Highness, this is a great opportunity! Why not seize this opportunity to capture the Qin King?”

The Jing Prince inwardly agreed ten thousand times: Of course, we must act quickly!

But when he opened his mouth, it was: “Wait for more news, do not provoke war at all costs!”

He suddenly felt possessed, his heart and mouth not in sync. He felt like he was about to have a mental breakdown, and he was very afraid!

Too many things are happening in this arc lmao

Thank you for reading