Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Pain—

An agonizing pain, the sensation of a sword blade piercing through the chest stretched endlessly long, the slow and dull ache roaring up to the brain.

Rong Tang had not felt such pain in his previous life when he was poisoned to death by a minor antagonist, nor in the life before that when he fell from the stairs.

Being aware of the betrayal by the person he had always protected was a particularly heart-wrenching torment.

He opened his eyes in confusion, looking at the young man in coarse linen clothes, hiding behind the statue of Guanyin in the dilapidated temple, escaping soldiers. A flicker of incomprehension crossed his face: "Why... why...?"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry..." The young man's hands trembled, his eyes red and teary, the familiar gentle and flirtatious cinnabar mole at the corner of his eye seemed stained with blood, adding a touch of seduction: "Rong Tang, you were too close to him... I didn't dare to gamble."

Blood rapidly draining, his body, always low in temperature, couldn't bear it. His vision blurred, a buzzing sound echoed in his mind, and before collapsing completely, the last words Rong Tang heard were: "Rest assured, once I ascend the throne, I will surely posthumously honor you."

Rong Tang wanted to laugh, but as he tried to twist his mouth, he couldn’t even manage a slight curve.

As the world turned dark and the sounds of soldiers and horses faded away, some fled the temple while others stepped inside.

Waiting for the system to help repair his consciousness, Rong Tang heard a voice that seemed regretful yet indifferent: "Prince Ning Xuan’s son? What a pity, Xing Feng—"

"Your subordinate is here."

"Bury him."

After that, there were no more sounds, only a series of urgent mechanical noises in his consciousness.

[Beep beep—Level One Warning!]

[Host death, mission aborted—]

[Accelerating time flow, tracking male lead's ending.]

[Tracking complete, male lead deceased, tracking antagonist's ending—]

[Tracking complete, antagonist missing, Da Yu plunged into chaos, plotline unchanged, mission failed!]

[Initiating repair program, timeline rewinding—]

【……】

[Timeline rewind complete, host's third mission begins.]

[Warning! This is the host's final transmigration. Continuous mission failure will result in host death, annihilation of the mini-world, and permanent erasure of this plane!!!]

Rong Tang took a deep breath, opening his eyes in a void, weakly calling out, "System."

[Host, I am here.] The system's voice was faint, a flat mechanical sound, yet Rong Tang sensed a hint of weariness.

He smiled and asked, "Do you think I was wrong?"

The system didn’t respond; its heart constructed of data streams couldn’t provide a definitive answer.

It had known the host for seven years, during which they had argued and disagreed. At times, it even humanly shut down the host's privileges in frustration.

But even after two consecutive mission failures, as it reviewed every step, it didn't find where exactly the host had gone wrong.

"Maybe it's this world that's wrong," Rong Tang murmured softly, looking down at his chest, where there was no gash.

He had never imagined that one day he would be killed by the male lead.

"This is a novel world named 'The Emperor's Conquest.' The male protagonist is a typical noble character, who rises from adversity with incredible fortune, amasses countless concubines, and ascends from an insignificant figure in the cold palace to ultimately becoming the supreme ruler."

"However, this ending is merely conjecture by the readers of the novel."

"In 'The Emperor's Conquest,' the main character indeed fits the grand male lead persona, destined to ascend the golden throne."

"—If only the author hadn't arranged for a far superior child of the late emperor as the formidable antagonist."

"Emperor Ren Shou ascended the throne illegitimately, through rebellion and treason."

"In the twenty-fifth year of the late emperor's reign, a crisis suddenly befell Dayu."

"Barbarian invasions from the north, powerful regional kings in the southwest, treacherous court officials, and eunuchs controlling the inner palace led to the collapse of Dayu's imperial household, leaving the wise late emperor baffled by the empire's rapid downfall in just three months."

"The emperor and empress were forced to commit suicide in the Diligence Hall, the crown prince died in battle defending the northern border, the third prince was beheaded by his own uncle in a southern rebellion, and the fourth princess jumped off the city wall in an act of sacrifice. The imperial palace was thrown into chaos, leaving the royal family dead or fleeing, with blood staining the four majestic city gates of the capital."

"The palace caught fire, and the young seventh prince perished in the blaze."

"Emperor Ren Shou successfully staged a coup and ascended the throne. He immediately issued a decree listing dozens of the late emperor's alleged crimes, branding him as incompetent and unworthy, claiming that his accession was guided by the will of heaven."

"But in truth, not all of the late emperor's children died. The body in the fire was that of a young eunuch, a substitute provided by a wet nurse. The young seventh prince was secretly taken out of the palace and lived in anonymity."

"With a deep-seated vendetta, he naturally became the biggest obstacle in the protagonist’s path to the throne and the greatest antagonist of the story."

"Typically, in such narratives, the antagonist exists to enhance the protagonist’s character and provide challenges. However, perhaps because the author made the antagonist too powerful, tragic, and single-mindedly vengeful, the story took an unexpected turn, and the antagonist, Su Huaijing, ended up usurping the throne."

"Rong Tang only managed to read up to this point before the text was reported and locked. The subsequent information was supplemented by the system after his transmigration."

"After Su Huaijing ascended the throne, he sought retribution for grievances and revenge for wrongs. He purged the court, led military expeditions to the northern border, turned Emperor Ren Shou into a despised figure, and issued a nationwide manhunt for the fleeing protagonist."

He became a thorough tyrant, sitting high in the imperial court, secretly planting pawns in the shadows.

But in fact, Su Huaijing never wanted to be an emperor. He didn't love his subjects, nor did he love the country. What he desired was nothing less than the annihilation of the entire world.

He spent years planting ministers with rebellious intentions until they grew strong. When the young emperor descended from the throne, with a wave of his hand, war and chaos engulfed the territories of Da Yu.

The nightmare of years ago struck again, despair re-enveloped, and this time multiple powers clashed, leaving no one sure of who the ultimate victor would be.

The emperor, looking at the rebellious army marching north, finally showed a satisfied smile.

The plotline severely collapsed, the protagonist died at the hands of the antagonist, the emperor defied by the heavens, and the whole world teetered on the brink of collapse, urgently needing correction.

But the consciousness of this mini-world had just formed and lacked the strength to directly eliminate the antagonist, so it pulled over a lucky individual from another world, promising benefits to complete the task.

This lucky individual was Rong Tang.

He transmigrated into a sickly minor character with the same name in the book, naturally lacking the power to confront the antagonist, so the ultimate mission given by the system was to protect the protagonist from being killed by the antagonist.

Rong Tang was a bit luckier than other transmigrators; he had three chances.

In his first attempt, relying on his knowledge of the original plot, Rong Tang secretly helped the protagonist avoid several attacks from the antagonist. However, he became too conspicuous, and Su Huaijing’s confidant noticed his presence and directly poisoned his tea, ending his life.

In his second attempt, Rong Tang thought to change his approach, working on two fronts: helping the protagonist avoid the antagonist's attacks while trying to contact Su Huaijing to dissuade him from killing the protagonist. Yet, before Su Huaijing could act, the protagonist, unable to contain his impatience and suspecting betrayal, killed Rong Tang first.

Rong Tang thought to himself that he might have been wrong.

He was too good to the protagonist, making him feel entitled to Rong Tang's life.

His soul slowly returned to his body, a cold and heavy sensation deeply embedded in his bones, and with an itch in his throat, Rong Tang coughed softly.

"Young Master! The Young Master has awakened!" Excited voices surrounded him. Rong Tang slowly opened his eyes to see an intricately carved, heavy, and antique bed.

Here we go again, he thought.

The room was well heated with expensive red charcoal burning in three basins, a level of extravagance that shocked Rong Tang every time he saw it.

But it was necessary, as his body wouldn't survive even until this spring without the warmth.

Rong Tang softly called out, "Shuang Fu..."

"Yes! I am here!" A young boy about sixteen or seventeen years old knelt by the bed to attend to him, uncontrollably shedding tears upon hearing the voice, his round, bun-like face looking comically sad when crying.

Rong Tang smiled faintly; in his previous lives, Shuang Fu hadn't been able to stay with him until the end, the boy dying before reaching twenty.

"Go get me a glass of water," he said.

Shuang Fu hurriedly complied, stumbling as he stood, his legs numb from kneeling too long.

Rong Tang's brow twitched slightly, and he sighed silently.

He had to teach him again...

Hopefully, this time he would learn.

He had already suffered enough, dying twice for the protagonist; Shuang Fu couldn't die a third time for him.

How could someone serve others so selflessly, disregarding their own life?

The warm water was quickly brought over. Shuang Fu helped Rong Tang sit up, moistening his lips before allowing the water to flow down his throat, warming his body.

Rong Tang said, "I want to sleep for a while. If the princess comes looking for me, tell her I will visit her when I am well."

He needed to sort out his thoughts; this transmigration was wrong. Following the same path as the last two times would only lead to another death.

And this time it was worse, with the system warning that another failure would not just mean his demise, but the destruction of the entire world.

But then...

What did all this have to do with Rong Tang?

For the first time, he detached himself from the situation, pondering for a long time before calling the system, "System."

[Host, I am here.]

The system rarely sounded so gentle, leaving Rong Tang somewhat unaccustomed. He curled his lips slightly, saying, "I may not be the savior."

The rewards for completing system tasks were too great.

"The term 'savior' naturally tempts and burdens everyone with responsibility."

But this responsibility had nothing to do with Rong Tang.

He was someone who had died in the modern world and had lived two extra lifetimes, which was already a bonus.

He wasn’t an original character of this world; the life and death of these people seemed irrelevant to him.

Rong Tang tried to convince himself, while the system remained silent, watching him in the consciousness space as he found one reason after another.

After a while, the host seemed to finally come to terms with it. He smiled faintly, his complexion pale, yet his demeanor was as calm as always.

"I can't save this world," Rong Tang said.

There was a moment of disturbance in the mainframe's data stream. The system silently observed, ensuring the slight disruption didn’t bother Rong Tang.

[Okay.] it said.

Rong Tang smiled again, his lips curving gently: "But I want to save one person."

In the system space, a vast map was displayed, with a white light flashing on it. Looking afar, someone from Shu territory was entering the capital, about to stir up chaos.

After a long time, it replied: [Okay.]

"Thank you," Rong Tang said with a smile, falling back into a deep sleep.

He was so tired.

Author's note:

The author switches to a sweet romance, essentially about two cuties in love, like kindergarteners playing house with pseudo-political intrigue. Updates at 9 PM daily, red packets in the comments section!