"Well, how was I supposed to know you were the emperor? I thought the Southern Dynasty was the enemy camp," Jiang Jingwei glared at him huffily. Given a Fire Specialist's temper, having her scalp grazed like that would have made her fight to the death even if it were her own father. But right now, wracked with illness and limp in all four limbs, she had no choice but to let Yuanshi Tianzun bully her.
"Cut the crap. Tell me your quests," Zhang Yuanqing urged.
Jiang Jingwei sat cross-legged with her back against the decorative rockery, answering listlessly, "My main quest is to monitor Zhao Shun and the situation inside the imperial palace, reporting regularly to the Shenrui Army. My side quest is to assassinate the tyrannical ruler."
*Your main quest was so safe, yet you had to pick the much harder side quest? You wouldn't even die if you failed the side quest. This girl Jingwei truly lives up to the Fire Specialist class!* Zhang Yuanqing's head was bursting with complaints as he asked, "What kind of faction is the Shenrui Army?"
Jiang Jingwei tilted her head, recalling, "The Shenrui Army used to be one of the Southern Dynasty's military units. It was wiped out sixteen years ago, and the surviving soldiers turned to banditry, intending to take revenge on the emperor and the Southern Dynasty. This character's father was a member of the Shenrui Army."
*I'll have to investigate detailed intelligence on the Shenrui Army later!* Zhang Yuanqing's expression relaxed slightly. Although Jiang Jingwei was also aligned with an opposing faction, that precisely proved it wasn't an issue of class alignment, but a quirk of the dungeon itself.
Issues with the dungeon were easy to resolve. According to dungeon mechanics, teammates were unlikely to become mortal enemies, so there was bound to be a way out.
*I'll find a chance to ask Little Fu!*
He opened his inventory, took out a porcelain bottle, and tossed it to Jiang Jingwei. "Cure your illness first. I'll take you back to the bedchamber shortly."
Ever since they had Xiahou Aotian and the Palace Master of Halting Slaughter, the Return of the Dead guild storage had enjoyed an endless supply of medicinal pills and Life Source Fluid. The pills refined by Scholars could treat injuries as well as cure illnesses.
Her limbs weak, Jiang Jingwei carefully caught the porcelain bottle, pulled out the wooden cork, poured out a few brown pills, and swallowed them whole. Moments later, the color gradually returned to her pale cheeks.
Next, she crouched beside the two beauties, pried open their mouths, roughly shoved the pills inside, and pinched their noses, forcing the unconscious pair to swallow.
Soon, the two beauties let out soft whimpers and came to. They looked around blankly. The moment she saw Zhang Yuanqing's face, Beauty Wan's pale little face blossomed like a flower in immense delight: "Brother Yuanshi, you came to save me! I knew it—any dungeon with Brother Yuanshi will never be dangerous."
Whimpering sweetly, she threw herself into his embrace like a fledgling swallow darting into the woods.
*It really is Xie Lingxi.* So thoroughly tea-like—Zhang Yuanqing wasn't surprised in the least. In Return of the Dead, she was the greenest of green teas.
Zhang Yuanqing then looked at Singer Wang. "Are you Queen?"
Singer Wang's glamorous yet pale face broke into a smile. She chirped joyfully, "Guild Leader, you came to save me!"
Nestled in Brother Yuanshi's arms, Xie Lingxi sobbed, "Boohoo... We failed to assassinate the tyrannical ruler. Brother Yuanshi, did you come to the palace to assassinate him too?"
Zhang Yuanqing reached up and wiped his face. "Take a good look at who the tyrant is!"
Xie Lingxi and Queen took a close look, both recoiling in shock and leaping back instinctively. Only after a few seconds did the reality register. Xie Lingxi stuttered, wide-eyed and slack-jawed, "Y-Brother Yuanshi, you're the tyrant?"
"Assassinate me, will you? Assassinate me..." Zhang Yuanqing rapped each of them on the forehead with a knuckle. "Brainless fools."
Though he already understood that their quests had led his teammates astray, making them think the Southern Dynasty was the enemy faction, the memory of hovering between life and death the previous night—all at his teammates' hands—made him itch to smack them.
Having been hit, Xie Lingxi and Queen looked bewildered. "If you are the tyrant, why did we receive quests to assassinate you?"
"Tell me your main and side quests first," Zhang Yuanqing said.
Xie Lingxi and Queen recounted their quest and character details one after another.
Beauty Wan was a spy planted in the imperial palace by the Zheng family. Her main quest was to "cooperate with the Zheng family's actions and survive for five days." She had two side quests: first, assassinate the tyrannical ruler; second, win the tyrant's favor and become a Noble Consort.
The reason Little Green Tea had been so eager to carry out the assassination was that she refused to seduce the emperor to become a consort, which left her with the alternative side quest: make the tyrant die!
Singer Wang represented a Jianghu faction called the Azure Dragon Gang, whose leader was a renowned knight-errant.
The Azure Dragon Gang wanted to assassinate the emperor under the banner of "Slay the tyrant, save the people." Thus, they had sent the daughter of a disgraced official skilled in music—Singer Wang—to infiltrate the palace disguised as a songstress.
Singer Wang's main quest was to "approach the tyrant and gather intelligence," creating opportunities for the Azure Dragon Gang's strike. Her side quest was to "assassinate the tyrannical ruler."
None of the three beauties had assassinating the emperor as their main quest. That made sense; after all, main quests were tied to survival. If their main quest had been to assassinate the tyrant, they would have been locked in a fight to the death with Zhang Yuanqing.
On one hand, they were teammates, so such a quest was unlikely to appear.
On the other hand, Zhang Yuanqing was a Dominator while the beauties were Saints; their statuses didn't match. Making Saints assassinate a Dominator was illogical.
*Right now, there are three known factions: the Shenrui Army, the Imperial Preceptor, and the Azure Dragon Gang. Alas, the situation in the capital is far more complicated than the front line...* Zhang Yuanqing sighed.
His burden was by no means lighter than Fu Qingyang's—no, it was even heavier. Not only did he have to deal with three enemy factions, but he also had to find a way to save his teammates.
As he pondered, light footsteps approached. The three beauties looked startled, but Zhang Yuanqing's ears twitched. Recognizing the footsteps, he reassured them, "Don't panic. It's Brother Red Chicken."
As soon as he spoke, the footsteps drew closer. It was indeed Attendant Li, clad in crimson eunuch robes with frosted temples.
*The tyrant's lackey was Brother Red Chicken?* Xie Lingxi changed her tune in a heartbeat, giggling, "Ah, so Attendant Li is Brother Red Chicken! Good thing Brother Red Chicken was guarding Brother Yuanshi, or we would have killed Brother by mistake. The Saints in our guild give such a great sense of security."
Hearing this, Brother Red Chicken beamed with delight and tossed over the bundle slung across his shoulder. "Change your clothes."
With that, he turned and led the way out of the rockery garden.
Zhang Yuanqing followed behind him. From behind, Xie Lingxi's soft, wheedling voice drifted over: "Brother Yuanshi, I'm scared. Can't you stay?"
"No way!" Jiang Jingwei's brows shot up. "If you want, go off to the side with Yuanshi Tianzun and change there."
*No need, a tiny flat A-cup isn't worth looking at anyway...* Zhang Yuanqing walked away briskly and hid with Brother Red Chicken behind a rockery at the edge. After waiting for fifteen minutes, Xie Lingxi's voice finally called from deep within the rockery grove, "Brother, we're done changing."
The two returned to find their three female teammates looking down, straightening their crooked collars and skirts.
Jingwei grumbled, "Ancient clothes are so annoying to put on. Don't people get tired of wearing such complicated outfits every single day?"
Zhang Yuanqing reached out and wiped his hand across their faces one by one. With ripples of light, the three breathtaking faces transformed into delicate, ordinary-pretty girls and young women.
They weren't dazzling, but they fit the aesthetic standard of Zhao Shun's harem.
—Zhao Shun's harem had no one with mediocre looks, except Beauty Wan.
After disguising the three, Zhang Yuanqing turned to Brother Red Chicken. "Lead them to the bedchamber. Say they were transferred from another palace to attend to me. I'll follow behind you and sneak in."
His four teammates nodded slightly and headed toward the bedchamber under Brother Red Chicken's lead. Zhang Yuanqing remained where he was until the group had covered some distance and drew near the bedchamber, whereupon he used Night Wandering to catch up swiftly.
His Night Wandering duration was limited; he couldn't afford to casually stroll behind them.
*Creak—*
Brother Red Chicken pushed open the palace doors and led everyone inside. Zhang Yuanqing slipped in among them and promptly dropped his concealment, his gaze fixing upon the inner hall behind hanging curtains. Instantly, his eyes narrowed.
Behind the curtain sat two graceful figures.
Someone else had arrived.
"Back already?" A somewhat familiar voice came from behind the curtain, clicking her tongue. "Summoning three beauties to your bed on your very first day in the dungeon—you're even more decadent than Zhao Shun."
Recognizing that familiar tone, Zhang Yuanqing understood immediately. Letting out a soft breath, he retorted, "Unhappy that I didn't summon you to bed, are we?"
The curtain parted, revealing Consort De with her voluptuous figure and snow-white skin.
There were only two women left in the party: either his aunt or Guan Ya. But Guan Ya would never speak to him in such a tone.
So it had to be his aunt.
"Consort De" wrinkled her nose. "Let's compare information. My main quest is to protect the Southern Dynasty from being destroyed. My side quest is to protect you. Yesterday it was twenty-four hours; today it updated to seventy-two hours."
*The same side quest as Brother Red Chicken.* Zhang Yuanqing asked, "What about your level?"
"Level 4."
"Tsk, lower than I thought. Why didn't you save me yesterday then?"
"The eunuch beside you beat me to it. Besides, letting you suffer a bit wasn't a bad idea." Consort De shifted her gaze toward the three palace maids. "You found your teammates?"
"Yesterday's assassins were our teammates!" Zhang Yuanqing shrugged.
He ushered Brother Red Chicken and the three girls into the inner hall, went through everyone's character details, main quests, and side quests, and laid out their current dilemma in full.
Finally, Zhang Yuanqing asked, "Do you have any insights or analysis regarding our next moves?"
Jiang Jingwei stared blankly ahead, completely emptying her brain.
Brother Red Chicken instinctively piped up, "Where's Guan Ya? Quick, find Guan Ya! She's a Scout, she's great at analysis."
*Sigh, on my side, we're naturally down two brains. How I envy Little Fu and his pool of talent...* Zhang Yuanqing sighed inwardly.
Xiao Yuan pondered for a moment before saying, "Looking at the quests, all we can do is wait passively for the assassins to come and keep you alive for seventy-two hours. But judging by the difficulty of surviving the first twenty-four hours, the seventy-two-hour side quest will be much more dangerous and could very well result in casualties..."
Before she could finish, the Palace Master of Halting Slaughter cut her off with a sneer, "Xie Lingxi, Queen, and Jingwei can lie low or provide support without fighting enemies head-on. Brother Red Chicken and I will serve as the vanguard, while you and Yuanshi Tianzun adapt as needed. As long as the Transcendent-stage members don't run in to feed, our survival rate is assured. Yuanshi's enemies are already clear: the Shenrui Army, the Azure Dragon Gang, and the Imperial Preceptor—along with the Zheng family backing him. The Shenrui Army and the Azure Dragon Gang operate outside the court; infiltrating the palace for an assassination is difficult. The danger over the next seventy-two hours will likely come from the Zheng family."
Xie Lingxi was worried. "The Imperial Preceptor's level is unknown, but the Zheng family definitely harbors experts, and they have people within the Imperial Guard. If they launch an assassination, Brother Yuanshi will be a sitting duck, and we'll be forced to fight the Zheng family to the death inside the palace. When that happens, there really might be casualties. In any case, I won't just stand by and watch Brother Yuanshi meet his doom."
Hearing this, Jiang Jingwei chimed in instinctively, "Then let's just escape from the palace! The Azure Dragon Gang and Shenrui Army won't be able to find Yuanshi Tianzun anyway."
Zhang Yuanqing frowned. "The prompt warned me that I cannot abandon the identity of the emperor... but fleeing the imperial palace is indeed an option. We can give it careful thought."
"I think what you need to do right now is play dumb," the Palace Master of Halting Slaughter said, twirling a strand of hair around her finger. "Since Zheng Longtu was attacked, the Zheng family will definitely test you. If they realize you know of their treachery, they will certainly send powerful experts to kill you. But if you know nothing and remain just a decadent tyrant, the experts they send won't be overwhelmingly strong. Also, your side quest has consistently listed 'gain the people's support.' That might be a hidden plotline or hidden feature. If you don't want to sit around waiting for death, you could consider completing this quest. But how do we win the hearts of the people?"
Brother Red Chicken said, "That's easy. Yuanshi can just issue an imperial edict of self-reproach. That ought to win over the people—that's how it always happens on TV."
Jiang Jingwei clapped loudly. "Yes, yes, yes!"
"Bullshit!" Queen rolled her eyes. "Zhao Shun is already a tyrant. Issuing a penitential edict right when the Northern Dynasty is invading in full force—wouldn't that just hand the Zheng family an excuse to usurp the throne? The Zhengs would laugh their heads off. Besides, popular resentment runs deep; putting out a penitential edict is very likely to incite a rebellion."
Zhang Yuanqing nodded. "In this situation, an edict of self-reproach truly won't reclaim the people's support; it will only give popular grievance an outlet to erupt."
Commoners feared imperial authority and dared not act rashly for now. If the emperor himself confessed guilt, what restraint would the commoners have left? Traitors and usurpers would hold back even less.
It was straightforward human nature.
"Furthermore, I'm a tyrant and a puppet emperor. My imperial edicts barely reach beyond the palace walls. Trying to reclaim popular support through conventional governance is virtually impossible—unless I leave the palace..." As Zhang Yuanqing spoke, his brows knit tighter. "Yet if I leave the palace, the Azure Dragon Gang and the Shenrui Army will be lying in wait. If I don't leave the palace, I'll have to face the Zheng family's assassination attempts."
Both paths carried immense danger.
Xiao Yuan said softly, "Leaving the palace is still the way to go. Staying in the palace means waiting passively for enemies to assassinate you. If you leave, you'll still face assassination attempts, but you can pursue side quests. In terms of benefits, leaving the palace is best."
Xie Lingxi added, "I think the side quest to gain the people's support is critical. It aligns with the overarching theme of 'Ruler of a Fallen Nation.' Hiding in the palace might keep us safe from the Azure Dragon Gang and the Shenrui Army, but if the Zheng family fails to assassinate you once, and fails twice, they will definitely pull out all the stops on their third attempt. That means at best, we'll only survive seventy-two hours, only to be wiped out during the third assassination."
"Sitting around waiting for death is out of the question. We really do need to leave the palace. Ah, what a headache... Let's deal with the immediate crisis first." Zhang Yuanqing pinched the bridge of his nose, then turned to Brother Red Chicken. "The hall is full of women. I have two tasks for you. First, head to the Sound Mastery Workshop and bring over a girl troupe. Having nothing to do today, We wish to listen to some music. Second, investigate what the deal is with the Shenrui Army."
Brother Red Chicken cupped his fists and took his leave.
Zhang Yuanqing continued discussing the escape details with the women—how to gain the people's support after leaving, when to depart, how to deceive the Imperial Guard, and so forth.
Furthermore, since he could not abandon his identity as emperor, items symbolizing imperial authority had to be taken along, lest the Zheng family seize control of the palace and prop up an impostor.
He couldn't afford to suffer the same loss Master Huang did.
A quarter of an hour later, Brother Red Chicken returned. He knocked on the bedchamber door and led in a bevy of dainty, attractive young maidens in single file.
The maidens from the Sound Mastery Workshop were all gorgeous, tall and slender, their colorful garments fluttering. One glance revealed they were prime material.
Zhao Shun truly understood the proper use of a dance troupe.
"Greetings, Your Majesty!"
The maidens of the dance troupe bowed one after another.
Zhang Yuanqing instinctively flashed a grin. "No need for formalities, no need for formalities! Ah, beauties, We have missed you dearly. Quickly, make music, let the dance begin!"
Xiao Yuan, the Palace Master, Xie Lingxi, and Queen all scowled simultaneously. Only Jiang Jingwei forgot all about the quests, her eyes shining in anticipation of the performance.
At once, the musicians cradling zithers and pipas stepped to the side, while the remaining six dancers began waving their long sleeves and swaying their waists, dancing gracefully.
At first, Zhang Yuanqing wasn't fully focused, preoccupied with his character and the dungeon plot. But gradually, listening to the lingering notes of the zither and the flowing melodies of the pipa, watching the snow-white bellies twist with exposed navels, and gazing at the plump curves traced by raised hips...
He suddenly felt that this was truly the spectacle every grown man dreamed of.
He gradually became captivated.
Right then, an imperial guard stepped over the threshold, strode into the hall, and called out loudly, "Your Majesty! Chancellor Zheng requests an audience."
*He's here!* Everyone inside the hall jolted to alert attention.
Zhang Yuanqing relaxed his posture, maintaining a lazy slouch as he said nonchalantly, "Show Chancellor Zheng in."
Chapter 851