Chapter 1 Tortured to Death by the Male Lead

Chapter 1: Basically, Tortured to Death by the Male Lead

{ Double male leads, mutual affection, forced love, simple plotline, just background framework, most content is fluff—don't take it too seriously.

Su Zheng (zhi), a food-and-drink lover, emotionally detached MC, x Luo Yunchen, a secretly obsessive and possessive yandere ML. }

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The Dayin Dynasty, Emperor Yuanjing's 26th year.

The Eastern Palace, the Crown Prince's bedroom.

On the bed, with layers of curtains and gauze draping down, a young man with delicate features and fair skin was lying in bed.

His long eyelashes fluttered, as if about to wake up.

The second Su Zheng opened his eyes, he shot up, scanning the room warily, on guard.

Then, Su Zheng was totally confused.

A bed this luxurious and clean, with a soft, warm quilt—no rot, no mold, just a faint smell of agarwood.

Was this even a place that could exist in the apocalypse?!

After all, since he entered the apocalypse at ten years old and scraped by for over ten years, hardly any place he'd slept in was clean, tidy, or smelled good.

As his mind cleared, his thoughts started spinning, and Su Zheng suddenly remembered something.

He'd apparently died!

He'd dodged death countless times, only to finally hug it tight this time!

So, what the hell was going on now?

Su Zheng felt himself—no rot, no decay, nothing missing.

He was wearing a white silk nightgown with gold trim and a cross-collar he'd never seen before.

Su Zheng's first thought: Money's no problem!

Just as he reached out to push aside the gauze and check things out, a sound suddenly went off.

"Crackle... sizzle..."

It sounded like an audio signal tuning in.

Su Zheng wasn't scared; he just figured out the sound was coming from inside his head.

Two seconds later, the sound cleared up, and it turned into a clear, boyish voice.

"Hey, host. I'm the World Repair Energy System 222. First time talking to you—nice to meet you!"

Su Zheng hesitated a moment before cautiously replying in his head: «Hey, if you don't mind me asking, what the heck is a host and a system?»

"Host, the system is not a thing... Ah, crap, crap—shut up and listen!"

"Your name is Su Zheng. In the apocalypse, you got chewed to bits! After you died, I made a symbiotic deal with your soul."

"I can let your soul be reborn in another world, in a different body. You need to help me finish the tasks in this world."

"So, you're my host, and I'm your system."

"I'm sending you the original owner's memories now. First, get a handle on who you are."

As soon as the words ended, Su Zheng's head hurt, like a flood of info was pouring in.

Su Zheng flopped weakly back onto the bed.

Fifteen minutes later, Su Zheng slowly processed all the extra stuff in his head—the original owner's memories.

The original owner, Su Zheng, was Emperor Yuanjing's sixth prince, born to Empress Shen, the succeeding empress. He was made Crown Prince at birth.

This was right after the original owner had moved into the Eastern Palace.

Su Zheng: «System? You there? I'm done processing.»

"Any questions?"

Su Zheng: «Is the original owner really the full brother of the Tenth Prince, Su Wang?»

Empress Shen had three kids: two sons first, then a daughter.

The Tenth Prince was born four years after the original owner, as Empress Shen's second child.

In the original owner's memories, Empress Shen's attitude toward educating her two sons was completely different: she doted on and spoiled the original owner, while she strictly disciplined the Tenth Prince.

"No. The original owner—that is, you—is not actually Empress Shen's biological child. At the time, Empress Shen needed to give birth to a prince to secure the position of empress, but she was carrying a female infant. So she took a labor-inducing drug and secretly arranged to swap her stillborn baby with the prince born to your biological mother. Thus, Empress Shen had the Sixth Prince, ascended to the position of empress, and your biological mother was executed."

Su Zheng: «I see. Empress Shen needed the emperor and the court to recognize the original owner's status as Crown Prince, but she herself must have seen him as a thorn in her side. When she finally held power, the original owner's fate wouldn't have been good. Tell me, what was the original owner's fate?»

"In the original world, Emperor Yuanjing soon passed away, and the Crown Prince ascended the throne."

"However, the original owner didn't understand state affairs. Empress Dowager Shen ruled from behind the curtain, the Shen faction controlled the court, and the original owner became a puppet."

"Empress Dowager Shen poisoned the original owner, waiting for him to die suddenly so she could install her biological son, the Tenth Prince, on the throne."

"But before Empress Dowager Shen's scheme could succeed, the world's male lead, the Heir of Beiyuan, Luo Yunchen, stormed the palace under the pretext of purging the court, eliminated the Shen faction, and ascended the throne with the support of the court and the people, establishing a new dynasty."

Su Zheng: «Hmm? So, after all that, what about the original owner? What was his fate?»

"Basically, tortured to death by the male lead."

Su Zheng: «Tortured?»

"Meaning, legs crippled, hands broken, head cut off..."

Su Zheng: «...»

So, no matter what, he was doomed to die in pieces?!

Then why bother playing along? Wouldn't it be better to just lie down and wait for death?