CH 5

After a moment of silence, Qin Mo said, “Your highness, I don’t understand.”

“You really don’t understand?” Yuan Buwei looked at him.

The eyes are plain and the tone is even more plain.

It’s not harsh, but it seems to be pointed.

Under his eyes, Qin Mo was suffocated.

——He knows! He must know!

There was a strange silence in the study.

“Today, in the eldest princess’s mansion, Gu1 almost killed a man. It was like something exploded suddenly…”Yuan Buwei smiled as he recalled his previous state, “Are you surprised?”

Finally, his tone cooled down.

Being stared down, Qin Mo finally couldn’t bear it. His knees softened and directly knelt on the ground.

“What is this?”

His tone, which was cold, turned mild again, and a slight smile floated on his lips. One moment, he spoke fiercely, and the next moment, he was like a gentle breeze and drizzling rain.

He smiled and read through the memory left by the original owner:

“Nine years ago, when I saved you when you were a fugee, you swore that this life would belong to me and you would only serve me…”

“When I went to the battlefield for the first time, I was careless. I was almost killed by spies mixed into the camp shooting a hidden arrow. You blocked it with your body and saved my life…”

This is the deepest impression in the original’s memory. There was no understatement nor any superfluous emotions. But the atmosphere in the study became inexplicably still.

In his calm narration, Qin Mo unconsciously lowered his head, and most of his face fell into shadows.

He knelt straight on the ground and was silent. But under the calm surface, his heart was tumultuous.

As if Yuan Buwei didn’t notice, he walked in front of him.

“What I said then…”

“From now on, you don’t let down Gu, and Gu will not let you down.”

The change of address seems to imply the change of attitude. Qin Mo’s shoulders shook violently and his body fell deeply to the ground.

“… I am the one who let down your highness.”

Yuan Buwei: “Oh.”

“Let me guess, is it you who broke your promise and disregarded your oath…” He tilted his head slightly and analyzed unconcernedly. “Or have you never been loyal to me from beginning to end… and someone else is the real master?”

Speaking of this, Yuan Buwei looked at him with inquiry.

Qin Mo had always been expressionless, his mouth closed tightly like a clam shell. But hearing this, he couldn’t help but feel stunned, and there was a momentary fluctuation in his eyes.

“Oh, it seems to be the latter.”

Yuan Buwei’s expression did not fluctuate at all, but continued to satisfy his curiosity: “So, most likely the life-saving grace is fake.”

Qin Mo was silent.

It was clear.

To continue to ask is superfluous.

Many times, people are confused and blinded by a leaf. And once you uncover that leaf, the truth is always unbearable.

All these calculations may have been planned since Qin Mo came to the original body.

It’s just…

“Nine years ago, I was just a young prince who fled south in a hurry. Why would someone pay so much attention to me?”

Yuan Buwei’s words seemed doubtful, but somehow Qin Mo felt that he had seen through everything.

His attitude was peaceful, his tone seemed familiar, every sentence was plain and light, his lips even held a smile, which brought great pressure on Qin mo.

Just facing the crown prince’s eyes, he always had a premonition that he would give in sooner or later.

Qin Mo could sense the shaking in his heart.

… no, you can’t let the crown prince go on!

“Qiang!”

A clear sound.

Qin Mo unsheathed the dark blade at his waist and placed it in front of him. At the same time, his forehead hit the ground heavily.

Blood ran all over his face.

He didn’t wipe it either. He just raised his head and looked silently through sight blurred by blood. He only saw a pair of calm and indifferent eyes.

“Yes, I failed your highness, please punish me your highness.”

He repeated what he had said before in a hoarse voice, Qin Mo immediately closed his mouth tightly after. He was afraid that he would accidentally say something he shouldn’t say under the prince’s eyes that seemed to see through everything.

… this choice was determined from the beginning. If, because of a moment’s hesitation, he betrayed the crown prince and afterwards also betrayed that man, what was the meaning of his actions over the years?

His reaction was not unexpected at all.

Qi Mingxuan, the original body, did not treat Qin mo badly. They appeared to be master and servant on the surface, but in fact they were as close as brothers. After he ascended the throne, he even handed over the position of commander of the imperial guard to the other party – this is an important position directly responsible for the safety of the whole palace. If he was not an absolutely trusted confidant, how could he be given this position?

With such trust and the feeling of many years of  companionship, struggling through life and death together on the battlefield. Qin Mo could have chosen to completely take refuge in Qi Mingxuan and give up the plans of the person behind the scenes — with Qi Mingxuan’s generosity and their many years of friendship, he would certainly forgive him.

If Qin Mo didn’t want to betray the old owner, he still gained loyalty and formed a brotherhood. At least he could try to protect the life of Qi Mingxuan.

But he only remained  silent. He betrayed him at the critical moment of the palace raid, pushing Qi Mingxuan into the most desperate situation.

This has proved his loyalty and sincerity.

——Of course, to another person.

If the real Qi Mingxuan is here, he will definitely be sad, angry and devastated.Unable to restrain himself, Qin Mo’s posture of baring his neck to be killed, of being loyal and righteous will only make him more angry. Maybe it will arouse the strange poison in the body, be manipulated by anger again, and do something irreparable.

——Has the person in front of him already thought of that situation?

When he switched from a detached perspective and brought himself into Qi Mingxuan’s role, he found that the other party was full of so many conspiracies and tricks. A simple pure mind cannot see through so many twists. No wonder Qi Mingxuan later became so suspicious and violent.

It may not be solely due to poisoning.

The study was quiet.

Only the sound of Qin Mo’s rapid and nervous breathing was audible.

The young man’s originally neat robes had become messy, his forehead was bloody, and the dark sword was put in front of him. He slightly tilted his head in a posture of baring his neck, pleading for death.

Assuming Yuan Buwei would unsheathe his sword at any time, and then… Kill him!

Yuan Buwei remained unmoved, looking at him calmly.

This silent, cold and unsmiling face looks as loyal and reliable as ever. But Yuan Buwei seems to see another figure through his face, a puppet master full of sinister calculations.

… even though the original Qi Mingxuan was gifted and knowledgeable, how could he have expected that someone would start planning so early. Secretly spying on him at his weakest and most embarrassing moments?

“Pa, PA, Pa.”

Yuan Buwei clapped his hands suddenly.

“Your loyalty is admirable.” He showed no anger, his admiration was entirely sincere.

This strange reaction surprised Qin mo.

After nine years together, he thought that he knew the prince very well. The other party did have the breadth of mind to cover the world. He often knew a little about many major events, and his military talent was excellent. Others needed to take ten steps and he would take a hundred steps in one step.

But no one is perfect, in particular he was disconnected from secular human relations.

Casting all his attention on the battlefield, and with the emperor sparing no effort to support him from behind. No one’s sugar coated words or slander ever made the emperor misunderstand him or affected him on the front line.

He was protected by the emperor. Over time, on the contrary, he lost his keen insight into people’s hearts. He harbors a rare purity in the royal family.

But today, Qin Mo can’t see through him.

Seeing this, Yuan Buwei asked lightly: “What, did you think I’d  ask you who’s orders you’re taking?”

Qin Mo raised his head in amazement and his expression changed for the first time: “Your Highness?”

Yuan Buwei reached his hand out to pick up the dark sword, he stroked the handle with his palm, before suddenly pointing the sword.

“Don’t be nervous. I won’t kill you. I don’t want to pry out any secrets from you. I’m only curious about one thing…”

The sword was slowly drawn out, and the blade light was dazzling for a moment.

In the light of the knife, a fleeting smile appeared on the man’s  cold face. In Qin Mo’s eyes, it revealed unspeakable evil.

In an instant, a bad premonition sprang up in his mind, and Qin Mo’s eyes instantly widened.

—

After testing Qin Mo, his speculation about the mastermind behind the scene was further verified. So he released system 999 again:

“If I’m here, where did Qi Mingxuan’s soul go?”

In the face of this ruthless man who threw out and pulled back X after use, system 999 wanted to decline directly.

There is a human saying that when taking advantage of others, you should treat them well2. However, the host is hardly human!

Before, he shut it in a small black room without hesitation, and then released it when he became useful. As natural as using a universal search engine without feeling any guilt.

After being cheated once, system 999 is not as stupid as before and learned to bargain: [The host must promise first to not block the system after the question is answered.]

Yuan Buwei: “… Hmm?”

As soon as system 999 saw his response, it immediately became confident: [Not only this time, if the host still wants to maintain good relations and get the most timely system services, you can’t block the system in the future.]

… Does the host think it is still the original naive system 999? No, after two rounds of the small black house tour, it has become [Hyper evolution · system 999]!

Yuan Buwei, “Forget it.”

There was no hesitation. He moved the spiritual force within his soul, ready to throw it into the little black room again. He would rather discover the answers himself than endure a noisy system all the time.

[Wait wait wait, I’ll talk!] Seeing that it was about to enter the little black house for the third time, system 999 almost went crazy. [This system also doesn’t know where Qi Mingxuan’s soul went. 】

Yuan Buwei was immediately interested: “You don’t you know? Didn’t you choose this identity?”

[The system did not choose him on its own initiative, but he chose to give up his identity.]

After a moment of silence, system 999 still chooses to tell the truth. This is special treatment that other hosts don’t receive.

[In this cosmic sea, within billion trillion worlds, there are always many mysterious and incomprehensible phenomena. For example, the tide of the river of destiny. If each drop of water corresponds to one person, ordinary people could not have seen the water droplets in the river of destiny in advance. But there are always some people who, due to some accidents, see the light and shadow refracted by the water droplets at some time – that is, they knew their future destiny in advance and Qi Mingxuan is probably such a person.]

Yuan Buwei understood: “… Then he chose to give up and leave directly?”

System 999 gave a positive answer: [Therefore, the host can take over his life.]

[As for Qi Mingxuan’s soul, it may have left this small world with the help of the tide of fate, or it may have directly moved onto reincarnation, which cannot be monitored by this system.]

“It seems that you are not completely useless.”

Yuan Buwei complimented.

… at this time, he doesn’t seem to dislike the noisines of system 999. Even wanted it to explain more.

… It’s true.

Receiving rare praise, system 999 jumped with joy: [Of course, the system knows a lot.]

With that, the system 999 was inspired.

——Isn’t this the method systems used to mold and teach those hosts? If they do well, they are encouraged more, and if they don’t do well, they would be severely punished. Over time, the host naturally becomes obedient.

Originally, the same routine was planned  to be used on Yuan Buwei. Unexpectedly, he was directly locked up in the little  black house.

Now… Is it reversed by the host?

Before system 999 completely figured things out, it heard Yuan Buwei say, “Keep up the good work. This time, you won’t be blocked for the time being.”

If he gives it some sweetness, the system will answer questions more actively next time.

System 999: …

… it’s really the routine, solid proof.

The system wanted to act tough and take the initiative to enter the host’s little black house, but it couldn’t control its curiosity: [Host, why did you ask about Qi Mingxuan’s whereabouts? Do you still want to return the ownership of this body to him?]

“No, just making sure.” Yuan Buwei murmured, “Whether this body will let me do whatever I want…”

The author has something to say:

Logic of system 999 (Forcefully winning?3):

The host unilaterally blocks it = the host cuts off contact with it = it also blocks the host

The host closes it into the little black house = each person is separated = it also closes the host into the little black house

Therefore, taking the initiative to enter the host’s little black house is to resolutely resist to the end, let the host block it and throw it into the small black house 23333334.

1孤= another way for imperial family to address themselves.

2 Originally, to eat people you need a soft mouth and short hands. You have to treat them well when you ask people to do things. Which is a Chinese idiom.

3 Something a game anchor said, the anchors name is in the sentence and it’s about how even if that guy loses, he’s still winning in the end

4 Onomatopoeia for ha ha ha in chinese