Chapter 1: The Romance System issues beginner quests. Your Majesty, please give thanks...

Chapter 1: The Romance System issues beginner quests. Your Majesty, please give thanks...

Blood spurted from Ying Xi's abdomen.

The surroundings were in complete chaos. After the Xiongnu breached the city, the enemy army stormed into the palace, and Weiyang Palace was also engulfed in flames, turning everything a deep red.

Snap.

Blood was rapidly flowing out, taking away vital signs, and Ying Xi's pupils contracted to their limit.

He looked down at the sharp weapon that had pierced his body. Because of years of working at his desk reviewing memorials, Ying Xi's body had always been very weak. Even though he instinctively tried to survive, he was unable to struggle and was gripped by pain and despair.

"A tyrannical ruler."

Upon hearing these harsh words, Ying Xi struggled to look up!

"I……"

He instinctively wanted to prove to people that he was making every effort to save the Qin Dynasty.

Now all that's left is futility.

Ying Xi looked at the minister who had killed him: the man's eyebrows and eyes were covered in blood, and despite the destruction of his country and family, he wore the same expression of despair.

Both men were the last martyrs of the dynasty.

The world around Ying Xi completely faded, accompanied by countless curses directed at him. Ying Xi stepped into death.

A tyrannical ruler!

A tyrannical ruler!

You are a tyrannical and incompetent ruler who has brought ruin to the country and its people!

After traversing the long chaos, a white light flashed!

"His Majesty?"

What, a sound...

The voice was unhurried and the timbre was somewhat familiar.

Ying Xi panicked for a moment, then her floating body slowly landed on solid ground.

Ying Xi opened his eyes. Having just experienced the utter darkness brought by death, he gradually realized that he was surrounded by light. The bright sunlight at midday in early spring was so intense that it hurt his eyes, and his hands trembled.

My gaze fell upon the desk in front of me, piled high with urgent reports and memorials from all over the country.

The chief eunuch who woke him was handsome, with deep red lips, and retreated to the side with a numb expression. Following the rules set by Ying Xi, Yu Jing was obligated to wake the emperor immediately if he was found to be lightly asleep while handling state affairs.

This is the study in Weiyang Palace.

A fragile nerve in Ying Xi was touched.

He lightly touched his forehead, subtly observing him, confirming his guess.

However, he had clearly died in the turmoil that led to the fall of the country, so how could he be in Weiyang Palace?

As Ying Xi pondered explanations akin to Zhuangzi's dream of a butterfly, someone spoke in his mind, their voice fragmented and incoherent.

"Hello, Your Majesty!" came a clear, girlish voice. "I am the assistant of the Romance System. Please call me Sweet Commander."

"This system adheres to the design concept of high degree of freedom and strong user experience, accompanying you to conquer every citizen of Qin."

"Now, please wait for the newbie quests to be assigned."

Who is it?

The Qin Dynasty palace was strictly governed by rules, and no palace maid dared to make a loud noise.

Another strange thing happened. Ying Xi's brow twitched. The young emperor's gaze swept across Weiyang Palace almost imperceptibly.

But the voice had vanished without a trace.

Ying Xi even thought he was hallucinating. However, he quickly came to his senses, as he often experienced dizziness and tinnitus due to overwork since his ascension to the throne.

Ying Xi coughed a few times as he thought of this. He instinctively picked up the Ministry of War's memorial. The scene from his dream was still vivid in his mind. He wanted to see where the Xiongnu had actually advanced.

But he didn't expect that when the memorial was unfolded, the signature clearly stated "the first year of Zhongxing," which was the reign title he changed when he first ascended the throne.

He thought the eunuch had delivered the wrong memorial.

But the Grand Steward Yu Jing remained expressionless, his hands hanging limply at his side.

Yu Jing was meticulous and more learned and cultivated than any of the other eunuchs; such a clumsy mistake was not something he could have made.

Ying Xi then picked up several other memorials from the Ministry of War and first looked at the signatures. Without exception, they all read "the first year of Zhongxing." The Ministry of War's reports concerned the frequent rebellions of the people in various prefectures within the territory.

The uprising of the Qingniu Army in the north, the uprising of Li Yilong in Yangzhou in the south... all happened at the beginning of his reign.

Yingxi gradually tightened her fingers on the pages of the memorial, then twisted them heavily, causing the edges of the pages to curl.

This is not a dream; he has been reborn.

I was reborn back to the time when I had just ascended the throne.

Ying Xi spread out all the memorials on the table and quickly scanned them, becoming increasingly gripped by a suffocating feeling!

He had an exceptional memory and took every report and reply to it seriously. He could clearly recall that the present moment was a day he had experienced before.

In his previous life, he witnessed the decline and fall of the Qin Dynasty. He tried desperately to save it but to no avail. His future was to be betrayed by everyone and die with his country destroyed.

As if to intensify his despair, a young eunuch outside the study in Weiyang Palace kowtowed.

Ying Xi raised her eyelids and nodded slightly. The little eunuch handed the brocade box to Yu Jing.

Yu Jing steadily accepted the jade mirror and opened the brocade box to Ying Xi. Inside the box was a new batch of memorials to be read, except for the one at the very top, which was covered with a glaringly pale white seal.

Ying Xi's heart skipped a beat: He's dead.

"read."

Yu Jing held up the memorial: "The rebellion of the Qingniu Army has been quelled. However, Xie Ji, the former Duke of Ying, died while overseeing the battle. His only son, Xie Qianli, escorted the coffin back to the capital to report on the funeral arrangements. The rebel's head is on its way. The sixth generation of the Xie family, a loyal martyr, has also died in service to the king. I beg Your Majesty to make a decision."

The Duke of England, Xie Ji, is currently the commander of the strongest army in the court, capable of fighting a single battle.

After the death of Xie Ji, the Xie family suspected that Xie Ji's death was related to the emperor's suspicion of meritorious officials, and the Xie family completely alienated themselves from the court.

If things continue in this direction... it means that he will have to relive all his past lives, like a wound that has just formed a scab, but it will be torn apart again and again, preventing it from healing.

Does he have to die again after dying once?

Despite his imperial composure, Ying Xi's expression remained unchanged. He slightly raised the corners of his mouth, exuding refined elegance, yet the turmoil in his heart did not diminish in the slightest.

"Cough...cough cough cough...cough..." His slight smile triggered bursts of coughing, and his stomach churned.

The table trembled from the emperor's cough. Yu Jing did not approach, but instead placed the teacup beside the emperor's right hand like a puppet.

Ying Xi forced herself to lift the lid and take a sip.

He closed his eyes, suppressing the discomfort. Steam filled his nostrils, and in a brief moment, he relived his past life.

When Ying Xi put down her teacup again, she sighed softly, her eyes filled with a sense of relief after all she had been through.

In his past life, he was worthy of the country and the people, and he never wronged anyone. He only tormented himself, yet he still earned a bad reputation for all time.

If she were to be reborn, Ying Xi pursed her lips, and the young emperor, restraining his anger, gracefully put down his vermilion brush.

—I quit.

The chief eunuch, Yu Jing, was slightly taken aback. His numb face finally showed some expression. It was only noon; normally, the emperor would be reviewing memorials until at least midnight.

The Grand Eunuch was incredulous. What had happened to the Emperor?

Jade Mirror: "Your Majesty?"

"I am very tired," Yingxi said, getting up and stretching to instruct, "Prepare the carriage for Shanglin Garden and arrange a song and dance performance to entertain me."

Yu Jing went from surprise to utter astonishment, and after a long while, she finally came to her senses and said, "This servant will go and do it right away."

***

Shanglin Garden.

Spring has only been here for two or three days, and the New Year has just passed. The garden is still cold and quiet, and apart from the winter plum, none of the plants have sprouted. Last year's snow has not yet melted, and only a few plum blossoms have opened.

This is a large garden built for emperors of all dynasties to play and hunt. Behind Ying Xi is a pavilion for resting. He sits in the open space in front of the pavilion, with a long table in front of him, on which are several kinds of snacks and a pot of warm wine.

In the center of the open space, a dozen women with flowing sleeves were dancing.

The dancers were in high spirits, and their movements were somewhat exaggerated and overly forceful. This was the first time the emperor had taken the initiative to request to watch them dance.

The number of dancers in the Jiaofangsi (a government-run entertainment institution) had long been reduced to an extreme level.

If the palace didn't have to handle so many foreign affairs, these dancers would have been dismissed by the emperor, and it's said that the money saved would be used to quell various rebellions.

I heard that the emperor once allocated funds for the dancers' resettlement.

But the emperor couldn't be all-encompassing; the money was skimmed off layer by layer by his subordinates, and in the end, the dancing girls who left didn't receive a single penny.

Therefore, the dancers could not understand the emperor's good intentions, because once they left the palace, the outside world was freezing cold, and they would either freeze and starve to death or fall into prostitution and willingly degenerate.

The dancers feared that the emperor's order for them to dance was a final, desperate act of revelry before completely banishing them all.

The dancers were trembling with fear, yet they also hoped to entice the emperor to stay. One of them, a woman who was so thin she was almost unrecognizable, fell while spinning, her face pale. Not wanting to spoil the fun, she quickly stood up and rejoined the group, her movements so fast it was as if she had never fallen before.

Ying Xi waved her hand to summon Yu Jing and ordered the eunuch to send someone away.

The eunuch hesitated, unsure of the emperor's intentions, and tentatively whispered, "Should we send everyone out of the palace?"

Ying Xi glanced at the snacks in front of her: "Give them to her and take good care of her."

Yu Jing's pupils trembled with a dark light, her surprise growing even stronger: "This servant obeys the decree." With that, she went to carry out the order, and the dancer thanked her profusely.

The fact that the emperor didn't expel such a performance mishap from the palace shows that he's not here to eliminate the Jiaofangsi (Imperial Music Bureau).

The dancers seemed reassured, their movements became more unrestrained, and smiles appeared on their faces. They bloomed like clusters of flowers in Shanglin Garden, their dance dazzling the eye.

Yingxi felt a fuzzy feeling stirring inside her.

He smiled slightly, savoring a bit of the joy of being alive.

His changes attracted the attention of the chief eunuch around him. Yu Jing was too clever for her own good and, knowing the proper boundaries, only dared to observe in secret.

Yu Jing knew that given the emperor's diligent work style, his health would eventually give out, and the throne would inevitably change hands again in a short period of time. Therefore, Yu Jing dared not get too close to the new emperor and become his confidant.

But now it seems... the emperor is propping his face up in a dignified pose, feigning sleep. The emperor has said that if someone dozes off while working, they should be woken up, but he's conveniently forgotten what to do if someone falls asleep while playing. Should we wake him or not?

Yu Jing thought for a moment and decided not to disturb him.

A clear thought emerged in the head eunuch's mind: the emperor wouldn't die from overwork; he might reign for a very long time.

Yu Jing's eyes darted around, her red lips parted slightly, and she reached out to ask a palace maid for a blanket, carefully covering the emperor's thin shoulders.

Just then—

Suddenly, the cry of an eagle rang out in the sky, sharp and long, sending chills down one's spine in an instant.

The war eagle swiftly flew over the dance floor of Shanglin Garden, its talons almost brushing against the hair of the dancers as it skimmed close to the ground.

Fearing being caught by the sharp claws of raptors, the dancers screamed, their dance formation crumbled, and the screams woke Ying Xi, who opened her eyes.

Amidst the chaos, Ying Xi met the gaze of the raptor. The war eagle's beak was aimed directly at his eyes, but because of the emperor's imposing glare, the eagle turned in mid-air, its wingtips drawing long arcs.

Ying Xi suddenly remembered the birds with iron rings on their feet. The war eagle relayed that these birds came from the army.

Ying Xi immediately thought of the memorial to the court announcing the death of Xie Ji and the return of Xie Qianli to the capital.

In my past life, I parted ways with Xie Qianli at Weiyang Palace on bad terms.

In this life, he came to Shanglin Garden, and Xie Qianli actually followed him there!

Before you see him, you hear his voice.

The sound of soldiers marching in unison filled the air; in the Qin Dynasty, this was a force unique to the most elite troops.

The insignia of the British Duke's army was white robes and silver armor. Because of the loss of their commander, all of their members wore white cloths tied around their waists, which fluttered in the wind like funeral banners. Although their numbers were not large, each of them had the aura of being able to fight against a hundred, making them a magnificent sight.

The newcomer's seemingly coercive posture caused the guards of Shanglin Garden to simultaneously grip their swords with their right hands.

Ying Xi followed the flight path of the eagle towards the end of the flat land, and Xie Qianli's tall and slender figure gradually came into view.

General Xie's snow-white armor was crisscrossed with dried bloodstains. He gripped his spear tightly in his right hand, the veins on the back of his hand bulging. The spearhead was also covered with wanton bloodstains, and a cold star at the tip of the spear was gleaming with a sharp edge.

When General Xie stopped, the butt of his gun landed on the floor tile, and a falcon landed on his left shoulder, spreading its wings.

The gun handle struck the ground, the echo reverberating in everyone's hearts, the resonance shaking their very souls; the gun itself must have weighed at least a hundred pounds.

Xie Qianli was tall, but not exaggeratedly muscular. He was aloof and cold, and his body was full of power that could be suddenly and violently erupted at any time. Now, this sense of power was amplified by the bloodstains all over his body, making it seem almost crazy.

Ying Xi's gaze swept across Xie Qianli's face.

Upon returning from the expedition, Xie Qianli's eyes were filled with ferocious bloodshot veins, and the corners of his lips had completely lost their curve. The details silently told of the hardships this man had endured in suppressing the rebellion and the pain of losing his father.

Having been reborn, Ying Xi still feels the same grief over the death of the Duke of Ying.

However, Xie Qianli stormed into the palace in full armor and even brandished his weapon in front of the emperor, which Ying Xi could not tolerate.

Ying Xi said, "How dare you!"

Xie Qianli rotated his wrist, remained silent for a moment, and finally stopped a few steps before Ying Xi, the cut surface of the spearhead reflecting a bright, clear light.

His thin lips trembled slightly as he hesitantly kowtowed. Xie Qianli slowly raised his head and met Ying Xi's gaze.

"My father died on the battlefield, but the Shanglin Garden is filled with singing and dancing."

"Your Majesty, my father and I deserve to die ten thousand deaths, for we have spoiled Your Majesty's enjoyment."

General Xie's voice was extremely hoarse, and Ying Xi could read real killing intent in his cloudy eyes. Perhaps it was because the meeting place had been changed from the study in her previous life to the Shanglin Garden, and she had watched the performance by the Jiaofangsi, which aroused Xie Qianli's anger.

Ying Xi's throat suddenly tightened.

The young emperor's gaze fell once again on the spear in the other's hand.

Ying Xi felt a lump in her throat. Was she destined to end her life prematurely?

His intuition told him that he should eliminate the threat immediately, at any cost!

Ying Xi turned her gaze to the nearly one hundred guards in Shanglin Garden.

However, Xie Qianli was too close to him. Xie Qianli was a veteran of many battles and served as the vanguard under Xie Ji. He often charged into the chaotic army and killed generals and captured cities on his own.

Before the guards could kill Xie Qianli, Xie Qianli might be the first to kill her. With this in mind, Ying Xi was undecided.

Just then, the voice of the young girl from before suddenly filled his mind, startling Ying Xi.

Sweet Commander: "Monitoring completed. Newbie mission issued. Your Majesty, please clean General Xie's gun."

The system is displaying a countdown to start.