CH 1

Notes:

Yongning Gong: Duke of Yongning

Yunnan Wang: King of Yunnan

Qin Wang: King of Qin

Wangfei: Official wife of a wang

Yongning Gong shizi: The heir of Duke of Yongning

Tanhua: Number three in imperial examination

Heibai Wuchang: A pair of gods in Han culture, they often capture the soul of the dead and assist various underworld deity like Yama, etc.

Qisha star: The sixth star of the Seven Killing Star. I don't know if I'm wrong or not. But I think this words refer to the male lead. 

___

On the day Jun Huailang died, it rained all night in Chang'an.

By noon, deep puddles had accumulated on the bluestone ground, but the rain still didn't stop.

The cold rain was wrapped in the autumn wind, it left a particularly chilling sensation.

The three hundred and fifty-six people of Jun family was kneeling outside the Xuanwu gate, forming a dense crowd, wanting to ask for help on this day.

Jun Huailang's clothes were all wet, his lips turned white as he knelt at the top of the execution ground. The cold rain fell on his face, and his ears were filled with the cries of female family members combined with the comments of onlookers around him.

He knew what they were talking about without having to hear it clearly.

The Jun family was the founding father of Dayong. The ancestors of the Jun family fought the Western War with the Dayong ancestor two hundred years ago. After the founding, they were awarded with a title of Yongning Gong and inherited it from generation to generation.

The royal ancestor was suspicious. Most of the founding heroes concealed their bows and had no good end, but the monarch’s family was still so powerful for more than two hundred years until today.

It was impossible for the Jun family to prosper in all dynasties and generations. So, it's not surprising that this happened today.

After all, Dayong had been completely disturbed by one person since the rebellion of Yunnan Wang and the arrival of troops under Chang'an city a month ago.

This person was not actually a rebel, but Qin Wang, Xue Yan, who killed the rebel.

When Yunnan Wang raised his troops, Xue Yan was facing the invading Turks in the north. In just over a month, he easily defeated over 200,000 Turkic army and recaptured the Yan Land that had been occupied for many years.

After defeating the Turks, he immediately moved south and arrived just as Yunnan Wang's army surrounded Chang'an. Yunnan Wang, who had been invincible for months, was easily killed by his iron cavalry. In the end, the king who almost stepped on the throne, was also cut off by his sword and hung in front of the Xuanwu gate.

Yunnan Wang's blood dyed the green bricks of the Xuanwu Gate red. Everyone thought that Chang'an would restore peace, but they didn't expect that there would be no peaceful day in Chang'an from this day onwards.

Qin Wang, Xue Yan killed Yunnan Wangfei then went straight into the Imperial City, stabbed the emperor to death on the Dragon chair with a sword.

Immediately afterwards, he killed all his brothers, except for the eighth prince who was only three years old, who was wrapped in a dragon robe and pushed him to the throne. Xue Yan became the regent who took power on the new emperor's behalf.

The government and the public were shocked. Naturally, this included many officials, either because he killed his father and killed his siblings, or because their interests were damaged. They stood up against him one after another, trying to drive down this dishonest ruler with the ancestral rites and system.

They obviously didn't know much about Xue Yan.

So, he pointed his sword from the palace towards the court. The former emperor was killed, and the new emperor was young. With just one look and word from him, countless court officials were caught out of their homes by the guards. They were pushed to Xuanwu gate for execution without even concluding a crime.

For a month, the court was washed in blood. No one dared to speak out against him anymore.

However, the tyrannical regent suddenly ordered that the Jun family who did not provoke him at all should be executed except for one person.

That person was also the one who Jun Huailang worried about the most.

His father was convicted and killed a few years ago, a few days later his mother followed. His younger brother, Jun Xiaowu died a month ago to defend against the invasion of Yunnan Wang, leading the guard of Capital City. The only one left was Jun Huailang's closest relative.

His sister Jun Linghuan.

When Yunnan Wang rebelled, it coincided with the invasion of the northern Turks. At that time, the former Emperor fell ill again, causing internal and external troubles for the imperial court. A Taoist from nowhere was invited to the imperial palace to calculate a divination for the imperial court, saying that Dayong was in danger and that only the daughter of the Jun family could help the country.

At that time, Jun Huailang's aunt, who had been in the palace as a concubine, had passed away a year ago. In the entire Jun family, the only woman waiting to be married was Jun Linghuan.

She was only fourteen at the time, and had not yet reached the age of maturity.

Jun Huailang naturally tried his best to resist the decree, admonishing the first emperor. He was not only Yongning Gong shizi, but also a Tanhua. A new official who the first emperor relied heavily on. The first emperor had to promise him that he would let Jun Linghuan sit in the empty seat of the empress and never touch her. When the court was stable, he would let her go home and marry.

Even though he said that, who would dare to marry a woman who had married the emperor?

But Jun Huailang knew that this was the best result. He hated that he couldn't protect his sister and couldn't sleep day and night for three months. Unexpectedly, it was the ridiculous will of the former emperor that ultimately saved his sister's life.

But when he thought about the regent who wanted to destroy his family, Jun Huailang felt cold.

He met the regent once.

It was when he knelt in front of Yonghe palace to receive the imperial decree regarding his sister. At that time, Xue Yan was about to lead the army to bid farewell to the former Emperor. Wearing thick black armor, he walked in the solemn and gorgeous palace with a tall and sturdy figure. His scarlet cloak was spotless, walking past Jun Huailang, bringing a gust of wind.

Jun Huailang raised his head and looked up.

Also at this moment, Xue Yan randomly glanced and looked down at the kneeling Jun Huailang.

Xue Yan was born very well.

His biological mother was a beauty who was sent by the Turks to make peace, and he also had half barbarian blood. His eyebrows and eyes were a bit deeper than those of ordinary Han people. His straight nose was like a sharp blade out of its sheath. His face was sharp and profound, with light amber eyes under thick eyelashes.

His gloomy and cold eyes seemed to be stained with a bit of blood.

With just one glance, Jun Huailang felt cold all over his body.

Jun Huailang was not surprised that such a dangerous and tyrannical person would take life and death according to his own mood. He also knew that the more noble the Jun family was, the more they stood on the cusp of storm. It is common for a new person in power to kill such an aristocratic family to establish his position.

But then he died, and Jun Linghuan's last family member was gone. She was now alone in the palace, the new emperor was young, and she had become the empress dowager. Inevitably facing the new regent dynasty.

Jun Huailang raised his head. Thousands of cold rain fell in the gray sky.

She was not yet fifteen years old, Jun Huailang thought.

At this moment, the beheading officer ordered the execution. The sound of the rain was unclear, but the executioner’s knife had been raised high. Raindrops splashed on the sharp blade, and a bright white silver light struck down as if it had cut a gap in an endless mask of gray. 

The hot blood fell into the cold rain.

___

The sound of rain seemed to be covered with a layer of fog, far in the sky, as if there was nothing.

Jun Huailang opened his eyes, but saw that he was in an endless void. There was nothing around him, except the rain water on his body, dripping embarrassingly.

Could this be the world after people die?

Jun Huailang looked around.

At this moment, there was a slight noise at his feet.

He lowered his head and saw a book with a peculiar binding falling at his feet. The cold water dripped from his robe and landed on the cover of the book.

"The Seven Nights Abuse of the Evil Regent".

The handwriting on this cover was a bit strange, it was clearly Chinese characters, but it lacked many strokes. Jun Huailang barely discerned the content of the cover, then he leaned down and picked up the book.

He turned the first page of the book.

Immediately afterwards, his pupils shrank and his fingers tightened unconsciously.

From the third-person perspective of this book, the protagonist was called Jun Linghuan.

The beginning of this book was the day when the Jun family was beheaded. He struggled to read the strange words lacking strokes, and looked at Jun Linghuan in the book. She was under house arrest alone in the magnificent empress dowager's bedroom, sobbing while the autumn rain poured outside the window, crying and trembling all over.

Although separated by the text, it evoked the familiarity between Jun Huailang and his sister.

The blue veins on the back of Jun Huailang's hand appeared.

His family only has one daughter, Jun Linghuan, who was held in the palm of her family since she was a child and grew up. Even after the Jun family was defeated, Jun Linghuan was also very well protected by him. The biggest grievance she suffered was to become a nameless empress.

Just thinking that no one would be able to protect her from now on, Jun Huailang felt pain.

The imperial palace was a place surrounded by wolves. How could she, a little girl who was just about to reach adulthood, survive?

His hands were shaking a little, and he couldn't help turning the book back.

He thought to himself that it must be the immortal's favor. Knowing that he was the only person in the world who couldn't stop worrying about it, they gave him this strange book to let him see his sister's future fate, so that he could feel at ease.

But then, Jun Huailang's expression stiffened.

He saw a name that was unfamiliar, but deeply burned in his mind.

Xue Yan.

On the second page, he saw Xue Yan stepping into his sister's bedroom, his eyes were like a thousand-year-old demon. He gripped his sister's chin without mercy, and forced her to look outside.

"Xuanwu gate is over there." Xue Yan's lips curled up in a cold arc. "Just after noon, your brother must have died."

In the rain, Jun Linghuan could only saw the palaces with red walls and blue tiles.

Her eyes were filled with despair and tears couldn't stop falling.

Jun Huailang's cold fingertips trembled with anger, he crumpled the pages of the book.

Regardless of how powerful he was, the fact that his sister was now the empress dowager was valid. Xue Yan should have called her empress dowager. Her family had already died. Even if Xue Yan had any deep hatred with the Jun family, it be written off at this point. Why did he still bully her like this? A little girl who didn't have a power to bind chicken!

This Xue Yan was not human at all!

Jun Huailang was educated to be gentle and courteous since he was a child. At this time, he couldn't help but gnash his teeth and scold Xue Yan upside down with every cursing words he knew.

Not human, not human!

Immediately afterwards, he couldn't even scold him.

He watched with a complex emotion.

This Xue Yan! He simply did not care about etiquette at all! He pressed his sister on the couch and aggressively assaulted her then force her to look towards the direction of Xuanwu gate.

While assaulting her, he coldly called her empress dowager.

Jun Huailang's flat nails were abruptly embedded in the pages of the book.

In the book, Xue Yan seemed to have some unclear personal grievances with his sister. He only said that his sister shouldn't pity him like a stray dog, and then betrayed him.

He flipped this thick book. Most of the pages were filled with that beast Xue Yan humiliated his sister. Jun Huailang's eyes were red. He wished to immediately reincarnate as a ghost and kill the beast. What made him even more desperate was when he reached two thirds of the book. His sister actually became attached to the beast. She hated him and feared him, but couldn't live without him.

Finally, Xue Yan married her as an empress and let the world talk and laugh, so that his sister had a bad reputation in the history books for thousands of years.

Jun Huailang's hands and jaw trembled

Jun Huailang couldn't control his hands. He smashed the heavy down with a bang.

That beast... that beast!

When I saw him in the corridor of Yonghe Palace, I should take out a sword and stab him to death!

At this moment, a voice came into the void.

"Huh? What sound?"

Then the voice of an immortal sounded above Jun Huailang's head.

"Heibai Wuchang, why are you so careless? Why did the dead souls that should be taken away at noon appear here?"

Immediately afterwards, there were messy and anxious footsteps, and two people rushed to explain.

"Fu Jun, calm your anger! It is true that the Qisha Star came into the world. There are too many dead souls this time, we two are really too busy, and accidentally missed one..."

Suddenly, an irresistible force dragged Jun Huailang's soul outside.

He didn't care about it, he just stared at the book on the ground.

Xue Yan… Xue Yan! As long as this Jun Huailang breathes, I will repay you a hundredfold for what you have done!

Jun Huailang was pulled by that force and disappeared into the void.

Then, the immortal known as Fu Jun slowly walked out and checked around.

"Huh?" He made a puzzled voice.

He picked up the book.

"What's the matter, why did you leave the story book written by Ge Xingjun freely?"

On the other end, Heibai Wuchang made another frantic sound.

"Hey! Wrong! You moved the soul in the wrong direction!"