Chapter 118
Chapter 118
[After the Transmigrated Man Broke Off His Engagement to the Princess – 1]
The Chief Minister of the Court of Judicial Review had already prepared to keep the matter secret and order everyone involved in the investigation to do the same. He never expected to hear the Emperor speak so openly.
After a long daze, he bowed his head with heartfelt emotion. “Your Majesty possesses Heaven-granted wisdom and a heart vast enough to embrace ten thousand rivers. This subject is in awe!”
Deeply moved, he added, “It is this subject’s greatest honor to serve an enlightened ruler!”
“Mm.” Ying Zheng was neither proud nor self-deprecating. His expression scarcely changed. He merely lifted his eyes and glanced at the official. “We have decided to reduce officials’ leave and reconstruct the Laws of Qin. We have already assigned the Vice Minister of the Court of Judicial Review to handle the matter. He will submit a memorial in the coming days. Since you are so devoted, add your name to it and present the memorial to court in the name of the Court of Judicial Review.”
The Chief Minister: “…”
After leaving the Imperial Study, the Chief Minister slapped himself across the face.
Why could he never control his mouth?!
Within a single year, the Prince of Chu’s residence had held five weddings and five funerals. Once the aura of stupidity disappeared, everyone from members of the imperial clan to ordinary commoners recognized that something was deeply wrong.
The serial murder case threw the entire capital into turmoil, and public opinion boiled over. The government’s response came swiftly.
The Emperor personally appointed Pan Zhenghe, the celebrated Vice Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, to preside over the case and ordered the Prince of Chu confined to his residence.
Pan Zhenghe had risen to the vice minister’s seat by the age of thirty for good reason. He produced an answer within three days and soon reconstructed the entire case.
The five Princess Consorts of Chu had not died because of Heaven’s will or a curse. Human hands were responsible. The masterminds were their husband, the Prince of Chu, and Qiao, a malicious wandering martial woman driven mad by her desire to seize the position of Princess Consort of Chu.
The Emperor’s judgment was correspondingly swift and ruthless.
The Prince of Chu was heartless, immoral, and deranged. He had repeatedly murdered the wives joined to him by formal marriage. He was therefore stripped of princely status, reduced to a commoner, convicted, and executed. Qiao, the other culprit, was dismembered by five horses, while the underlings from the Prince’s residence who had participated in the deaths were beheaded and their heads publicly displayed.
At the same time, Wang was stripped of her rank as Noble Consort for failing to restrain and educate her son and for repeatedly shielding the Prince. Reduced to a commoner, she was confined to the Cold Palace. The maternal families of the five murdered Princess Consorts also received additional imperial favor as a small measure of compensation.
The case implicated too many people, and every victim came from a distinguished noble family. Its sheer absurdity and bizarre details were almost impossible to believe. Once revealed, it exploded across the imperial capital. The victims’ families had certainly encouraged public pressure to force the court to take the matter seriously, but it was ultimately the extraordinary nature of the case itself that drew the greatest attention.
After such a catastrophe, with the Prince of Chu exposed as the principal culprit, everyone knew he was in grave trouble. The position of heir apparent was unquestionably beyond his reach, and he would lose a great deal more besides. Yet no one had imagined the Emperor would act with such sharp decisiveness and absolute fairness. He offered not the slightest protection, but executed the Prince directly as payment for the lives he had taken. Even Noble Consort Wang, who had enjoyed more than a decade of favor, was stripped of rank and consigned to the Cold Palace.
After the truth emerged, the Prince of Chu and Qiao were cursed without mercy. At the same time, the Emperor’s standing among officials and commoners rose without limit. Even the families of the murdered Princess Consorts hated only the Prince of Chu. They could harbor no secret resentment toward the Emperor. Instead, they felt profound admiration for him.
A murderer paid with his life, just as a debtor repaid his debts. It was the Prince of Chu who had killed their daughters. He had once been the Emperor’s most beloved son and the Empress Dowager’s favorite grandson, yet once the truth came to light, the Emperor had not hesitated for even half a breath before convicting and executing him. Was that not the very model of placing righteousness above family?
Noble Consort Wang had been favored for years. She was the Empress Dowager’s own niece and the legitimate daughter of Duke Wang, yet she too had been reduced to a commoner and cast into the Cold Palace. The Emperor had been perfectly impartial and had made no attempt afterward to conceal the truth or confuse the public. When he had gone so far, who could possibly criticize him?
They could only say that the Son of Heaven was wise and possessed exceptional moral character.
The sensational case of the violently deceased Princess Consorts thus came to an end. At the same time, inside a somewhat dilapidated residence, Jiang Yingchen opened his eyes and coughed weakly several times.
The sound woke the young woman keeping watch beside him. Jiang Weier immediately looked toward her elder brother on the bed. When she saw his eyes open and realized he seemed to have regained consciousness, joy flashed through her gaze. She hurriedly asked, “You’re awake, Brother? How do you feel? Are you still unwell? Are you hungry? Would you like some water?”
Jiang Yingchen’s mind was still replaying the moment before his death.
He had stayed up all night gaming at home for two days straight. On the third day, he pulled open the curtains and his vision immediately blurred. His head roared, and when the sunlight struck him, it felt as though his soul might be burned straight out of his body.
His heart raced. Jiang Yingchen hastily closed the curtains again, rushed into the bathroom, and splashed cold water over his face. Only then did he feel somewhat better. He went downstairs and casually bought milk and bread to fill his stomach. While eating, he arranged with his friends to start another team battle in an hour.
The gaming group was mostly quiet. Only a few female players were discussing a television drama that had premiered the previous day, saying its production was excellent and a certain actor had interpreted his role particularly well.
Jiang Yingchen glanced at the messages and sneered. What did they mean, the actor had interpreted the role well? These bitches only cared about faces. The moment they saw a pretty boy, they rushed over to kneel and worship him.
Was that not the same as volunteering to sell themselves to a man?
It was utterly ridiculous!
Jiang Yingchen had broken up with the girlfriend he met at university half a year earlier. More accurately, she had broken up with him.
He had wanted to marry her. His family had even prepared an apartment.
Jiang Yingchen had planned everything perfectly. He discussed it with his girlfriend. “My family paid the down payment, so your family can cover the renovations, all right? My parents are old. They spent half a lifetime of savings on the down payment, so they need to live with us. The mortgage payments can be deducted from my salary, and we can use yours for our daily expenses. What do you think?”
His girlfriend paused. “We can discuss the renovations. Better yet, each family can pay half the down payment and my name can be added to the deed.”
Jiang Yingchen looked deeply regretful. “You said that too late. My family has already bought the apartment. You know a name can’t be added to the deed until the mortgage is fully repaid.”
He stared at his girlfriend in surprise. “Don’t tell me you don’t trust me and think my family is plotting against you?”
His girlfriend said nothing at the time. That evening, she called him. “My parents don’t agree. They say I would be taking too great a loss if we followed your plan. If something ever went wrong with our marriage, the apartment would be yours, the money spent on renovations couldn’t be recovered, and the mortgage would technically have been paid from your salary. Mine would have covered all the household expenses, leaving me with nothing in the end.”
Jiang Yingchen frowned. “Do your parents understand the law? Half of the mortgage principal repaid during the marriage belongs to you as joint marital property. Why are they talking as if my family is trying to take advantage of you?”
“We know,” his girlfriend said. “But the law is one thing and the actual process is another. Collecting evidence, proving the payments, and going through court proceedings would be too difficult. My parents don’t want me to take that risk.”
Jiang Yingchen sneered. “What does your family mean by this? We aren’t even married, and you’re already planning for a divorce? Is marriage nothing but money and calculation to you? I remember you used to be so innocent and kind. You’ve only been out of university for a few years. How did you become like this?”
His girlfriend fell silent for a moment. “If you are completely confident in our future and certain we will never divorce, would you mind selling the apartment? My parents said they won’t take advantage of you. They will pay the down payment on another place and put only my name on the deed. You can use the money from your apartment to renovate it and perhaps buy a car. My salary will cover the mortgage and yours will pay our daily expenses. Of course, my parents are also getting old, and they will have exhausted half a lifetime of savings to buy me an apartment. They will obviously need to live with us. You don’t object, do you?”
Jiang Yingchen: “…”
Jiang Yingchen laughed in fury. “How can you be so calculating? You’re already like this before we even marry. How could we possibly live together afterward?! I was wrong about you!”
Someone seemed to be beside his girlfriend. That person snatched the phone away, and her father’s rough voice came over the line. “Go fuck yourself! You think you’re fit to say that?! You’re a damned abacus come to life, yet you have the nerve to criticize someone else? What a piece of trash! Fuck off!”
He hung up immediately.
Jiang Yingchen was half dead from rage. When he called back, he discovered he had already been blocked.
To be fair, his girlfriend was an excellent prospect. He was reluctant to lose her, and went to her home several times to pester her. Every time, he was beaten and thrown out.
Unable to swallow his anger, Jiang Yingchen posted on their university’s forum denouncing his ex-girlfriend. He claimed she had left him for a wealthier man, cheated during their relationship, and even aborted the other man’s child.
When his ex-girlfriend learned of the post, she published the recording of their call on the night of the breakup, then hired a lawyer to preserve the evidence and sue him. Jiang Yingchen did not go to prison, but he did have to apologize and pay compensation. Later, the lawyer retained by his ex-girlfriend’s family made a special visit to Jiang Yingchen’s employer.
The outcome was perfect. Jiang Yingchen was fired. Too ashamed to leave the house, he had remained unemployed ever since.
Jiang Yingchen’s ex-girlfriend also liked the actor the female players were discussing. The old memories left him deeply irritated. After some thought, he posted anonymously in the group. “Can you women watch something worthwhile for once? All day long it’s Korean dramas, Japanese dramas, and costume dramas. You call yourselves little princesses until you really think you’re royalty. Why don’t any of you imitate the gentleness and virtue of ancient women? All you care about is money and demanding a bride price!”
The female players had been enjoying their conversation when a random dog suddenly squatted in the group and began to shit. Thoroughly disgusted, they immediately fired back.
“Which graveyard did someone blow up to blast you out of the ground?!”
“The gentleness and virtue of ancient women? Have you gotten too deep into your fantasy? Ancient times had all kinds of people. Why don’t you consider whether you were a eunuch in your last life?”
“What’s this about women caring only about money and bride prices? Good heavens, has anyone actually asked you for one? Who? Which poor woman went blind at such a young age?! That sister can’t be thinking clearly if she picked up defective goods like you. The rest of her life is going to be miserable!”
Jiang Yingchen seized his keyboard and began typing furiously. “If this really were ancient times, all you women would be lowly maids inferior to men! Common women would have it worst. The moment their families ran out of food, they’d be sold for grain. Officials’ daughters would all be used for marriage alliances. Do you know what men called their wives? ‘My lowly one’! Aren’t you always calling yourselves little fairies and little princesses? Back then, even princesses were inferior. No man wanted them!”
He hammered out the paragraph and pressed Enter, only to discover that the group owner had already blocked and removed him. The fury in his belly had nowhere to escape and instead seemed to detonate in his lungs.
Jiang Yingchen hurled the cup from his desk and paced around the room several times. His anger did not subside. Instead, he accidentally touched a live electrical wire. His eyes rolled back, and he dropped dead on the spot. When he opened his eyes again, he discovered that he had transmigrated to ancient times.
Jiang Yingchen stared blankly ahead. The first person he saw was the lovely, delicate young woman before him. Her face was beautiful, but her figure was unfortunately terrible-flat as a washboard, as though she had not even begun developing. She was the original body’s younger sister, Jiang Weier.
His younger sister. What a pity.
She was exactly the sort of pretty girl one might find in a respectable little household!
The original Jiang Yingchen was eighteen years old, an impoverished son of a declining gentry family who shared both his name and surname. His ancestors had once been prosperous. They had even arranged his engagement to a princess, the daughter of the reigning Son of Heaven. Unfortunately, the original body’s father had broken the law and been stripped of his noble rank. No one knew whether the engagement still counted.
He hoped it had been annulled.
Jiang Yingchen felt nothing but disgust for the engagement. What was so wonderful about a princess?
If a man married a princess, he could not serve as an official or take concubines. Some dynasties had been even more perverse: if the princess died, her Prince Consort was required to observe mourning. Whoever married one was asking for misery.
Wait.
At that thought, Jiang Yingchen’s eyes suddenly lit up. This state was also called Qin, but it was a dynasty never recorded in history. Perhaps its rules differed from those of the feudal dynasties he remembered.
Moreover, the historical events and figures were different, but society had developed to the same level. Soap, cement, salt production, iron smelting-and plagiarizing a few novels-which of those would not bring enormous profits?
This world had no Li Bai, Du Fu, or Bai Juyi. It did not have Su Shi, Li Qingzhao, or Wen Tingyun either. He could sit the imperial examination, enter court, and rise to the highest offices while gaining both fame and fortune. Would he ever need to worry about finding women then?!
Of course! He had been born to accomplish great things!
Jiang Yingchen was filled with excitement and began imagining his glorious future. At the same time, the emperors in the System space sensed something and noticed a faint disturbance.
It felt as though someone had pried a crack into a coconut from the outside. An uninvited guest had plainly arrived.
Zhu Yuanzhang said, “The Prince of Chu is dead, and the one who controls the economic lifeblood of the realm seems to have arrived.”
“Indeed,” Li Shimin said. “I also sensed someone from beyond this domain entering.”
Emperor Gaozu nodded. “There was a faintly familiar presence attached to him. Does this person also have a System?”
Ying Zheng snorted. “Heaven is truly blind to grant such an opportunity to a man like that.”
Zhu Yuanzhang’s eyes shifted, a subtle light passing through them. He glanced unobtrusively at Liu Che beside him. “I have a bold idea.”
Li Shimin said, “I have a bold hypothesis.”
Emperor Gaozu said, “I have a bold plan of action.”
The three exchanged glances and broke into identical smiles.
Ying Zheng smiled as well, his expression meaningful.
Liu Che: “…”
Liu Che cried out in alarm, “Hey! Why are all of you looking at me?!! Wait a damn minute!!!”
As soon as the words left his mouth, the three men seized him by the arms and worked together to hurl him out of the space.
They could not leave the White Mist Space entirely, but merely traveling from one space to another should not be subject to too many restrictions, should it?
Liu Che cursed the entire way through the void. He had no idea how long he traveled before he finally spotted a ball of light ahead. Full of resentment, he squeezed inside, immediately stomped the original System beneath his foot, then ground his heel down several times for good measure.
“Any piece of trash can transmigrate and get a System now. The damned heavens truly are getting blinder by the day!”
When Jiang Yingchen discovered that his transmigration came with a System, his excitement soared even higher. He could rise to wealth and power on his own. With a System added to the equation, even becoming Emperor would pose no problem!
Who could have guessed that after a few mechanical chimes, the System would suddenly fall silent?
Jiang Yingchen grew anxious. “System? System? Are you still there? Can you be relied on or not?”
Then an exceedingly sarcastic voice replied, “I can’t be relied on, but I’m still here. Hello. System Number 1762548 is extremely reluctant to serve you. If you aren’t well, that’s fine too. I don’t care.”
“…” Jiang Yingchen: “????”
He asked, “Are you serious, System?”
Liu Che snapped, “You’re not deaf. Is your brain broken, or are you too stupid to understand what I said? You useless piece of trash!”
“…” Jiang Yingchen: “????”
Jiang Yingchen remained dazed for a full quarter of an hour before he recovered. Inwardly, he cursed this damned System for being so vicious. Outwardly, he did not dare confront it rashly and merely forced a smile. “Sorry. I only just arrived and haven’t figured out the situation yet.”
Liu Che replied carelessly, “Oh. That may be because you’re nothing more than an ordinary, unremarkable idiot.”
Jiang Yingchen: “…”
Jiang Yingchen could no longer smile. He restrained himself for a long time before suppressing the urge to explode and asking, “What can you help me do?”
Liu Che countered, “What do you want me to help you do?”
Liu Che: “????”
Liu Che asked, “You don’t want to marry the Princess? Why not?”
Like a string of firecrackers, Jiang Yingchen immediately rattled off all the reasons he had considered earlier. “Wasn’t ancient society supposed to value men and demean women? Why should I become a Prince Consort and wait on a princess? I’m not stupid! And I wouldn’t even be allowed to take concubines! In some dynasties, a Prince Consort couldn’t serve as an official, and if the princess died, he had to observe mourning for her. I thought about this back in the modern world. If I ever transmigrated to ancient times, I absolutely would not marry some damned princess!”
He continued with perfect conviction, “The books all say that talented sons of great families refused to marry princesses because it would interfere with their official careers!”
“That’s true,” Liu Che said. “Even in a dynasty where marrying a princess obstructed a man’s career, that would still be a problem for talented sons of great families. What does it have to do with trash like you?!”
Jiang Yingchen: “…”
Liu Che clicked his tongue. “My words may sound harsh, but you ought to take them to heart. Has anyone buried in your ancestral graveyard ever managed so much as a town? Did your family ever produce a prefect? Even a successful metropolitan graduate would do! Is the most accomplished ancestor in your graveyard qualified to kneel before a princess? You’re a worthless nobody. Why are you worrying yourself over how to reject a princess who would never want you?!”
Jiang Yingchen: “…”
Jiang Yingchen: “…………”
Liu Che continued, “Oh, marrying a princess means you can’t enter officialdom, right? But if I remember correctly, your later age practiced democracy. There were no hereditary privileges, correct?”
Jiang Yingchen answered woodenly, “Correct.”
Liu Che said, “Then let me propose a hypothetical situation. Your country has a head of state, and that head of state has a daughter. Everyone knows a democratic nation does not grant office through hereditary privilege. If the head of state wanted to marry his daughter to you, would you accept?”
Jiang Yingchen: “…”
Jiang Yingchen stammered, “Th-that isn’t the same thing.”
Liu Che chuckled. “Think carefully. Think about your family background, your parents, your future, and your ancestral graves. Think about the thirty years of struggle you could avoid. Then answer my question. Would you marry the daughter of your country’s head of state?”
Jiang Yingchen pictured it, and his breathing quickened. Modern society might be democratic and relatively fair, but social classes objectively existed. If he could truly marry the daughter of the nation’s leader, he would ascend to the heavens in a single step!
He pressed his lips together and restrained his excitement. “I… I would…”
Liu Che sneered. “Why don’t you take a piss and look at your reflection? What makes you think you’re worthy?!”