『You turned 1 page of the Four Books and Five Classics, vast righteous qi +1, cultivation +1 year』
『You create 1 chapter of the storybook 《Journey to the West》, martial intent +100』
『You recite…』
…
Jing Kingdom.
In the study of a residence in Langzhou City sat a young man in blue-green robes, holding a book scroll.
His name was Gu Lan.
He had transmigrated here 3 years ago, in Jiaqing Year 1.
A world where any path of cultivation could lead to immortality!
As a perk of transmigration, the scholar System had also bound itself to him.
As long as he read books, he could gain Confucian Dao cultivation from them, and even martial intent, divine artifacts, and magic treasures.
However, none of this was enough to excite Gu Lan.
Because he knew this was actually the world of a novel… and a eunuch novel that Gu Lan had been very familiar with in his previous life!
Yet in the setting, he was merely an unknown handsome supporting character, not even a villain.
As a steady type who had read all kinds of cheat-wielding monster novels, Gu Lan had the self-cultivation of a proper supporting character.
Stay low and don’t make waves!
No matter how strong one was, one still feared fortune backlash.
Knowing that the protagonist and the main villain were both going to the imperial city to stir up trouble, Gu Lan deliberately moved to Langzhou, far from the court, to watch the fire from across the river!
…
“By my count, my wife and Little Xi should be back soon.”
At this moment.
Gu Lan put down the book scroll, looked at the snowy scene outside the window after a whole night of snowfall, and murmured softly.
Today was Little New Year. The nearby people had all gone to Dajue Temple to offer incense and pray for blessings, and Mu Yuyan was naturally no exception.
When she left early in the morning, she said she would pray for her dear husband to be safe and sound in the coming year and to place high in the spring imperial examinations.
The thought of his wife instantly filled Gu Lan’s brows and eyes with tenderness.
They had married half a year ago, without parental orders or matchmaker’s words; they had simply met and fallen in love at a temple fair.
For half a year, they had lived in perfect harmony and mutual respect. Mu Yuyan was also virtuous and good at managing the household, so the Gu family’s life grew better and better. 2 days ago, they opened a teahouse, and business was booming.
All the neighbors envied them as a match made in heaven, saying the young couple must have had a destined bond from their previous life.
It could be said that in this other world, what Gu Lan cherished most was this ordinary yet incomparably happy relationship.
He would not trade it even if someone offered him the protagonist’s role!
“Old Yang, my wife will be back soon. Start cooking the porridge, and put in more brown sugar and dates!” Gu Lan called toward the door.
“No mistake there. I know how much Young Master dotes on Madam, so I started cooking it long ago!”
Old Yang’s cheerful voice came from outside the study. “Young Master truly cares for Madam. Among the families I served before, there weren’t many like you…”
In the study, Gu Lan smiled knowingly and continued holding the book as he read.
…
Pear Blossom Alley, on the way back to the Gu Residence.
A plain carriage rolled over the snow and slowly approached.
Inside the carriage, a woman wearing a snow-fleece plain white shawl was resting with her eyes closed. Beside her sat a green-clad maidservant upright and proper, with an empty offering basket by her feet.
If one ignored the woman’s devastatingly beautiful face and graceful, noble bearing, as well as the terrifying cultivation difficult for ordinary people to sense…
Perhaps one would think she was merely an ordinary woman returning home after praying for blessings!
She was none other than Mu Yuyan.
Aside from being Gu Lan’s wife, she was also the current Empress of the Great Jing Kingdom!
At this moment, Mu Yuyan was listening to her maidservant Liu Yexi read a secret memorial concerning the disaster in the Southern Frontier, where the people had harvested nothing this year and corpses of the starved lay everywhere.
“Your Majesty, the drought in the Southern Frontier has not lasted just 1 or 2 years, nor can it be solved overnight. We must take a long-term approach…”
Seeing Mu Yuyan’s willow brows knit ever tighter, Liu Yexi could not help comforting her.
“Little Xi, the disaster in the Southern Frontier is only the surface.”
Mu Yuyan opened her beautiful eyes, shook her head, and sighed softly. “Ever since I ascended the throne, in Jiaqing Year 1, the Demon Kingdom of the Northern Desert invaded the borders of Great Jing, burning, killing, and looting countless people.”
“2 years ago, the bandits in Jinzhou caused fierce turmoil. I heard… even massacres of entire cities occurred!”
“Last year’s flood disaster in Huangzhou led to the same situation we have now.”
“In these years, chaos in every direction has risen wave after wave before the last subsided… I fear the old Chief Astrologer’s prophecy has truly come to pass: when national fortune declines, unrest rises on all sides…”
“Your Majesty…”
Liu Yexi felt those words were unlucky and wanted to interrupt.
At this moment, the jolting stopped. The carriage had already arrived at the Gu Residence gate.
Mu Yuyan waved her hand. “No need to say more. Order Grand Chancellor Sima and the Ministry of Revenue to handle this matter and carry out disaster relief as usual.
“At this point, we can only take things one step at a time.”
Hearing the helplessness in the Empress’s words, Liu Yexi sighed softly.
In this world, the rise and fall of dynasties followed the momentum of fate, and it was truly profound beyond measure!
Even an Empress as powerful as one in the Sword Immortal realm could not control that invisible, intangible national fortune.
She remembered that when the old Chief Astrologer gave the prophecy, he had also given the only solution!
However, to this day, that solution had yet to show anyone any hope!
“The emperor enters the mortal world.”
That was what the old Chief Astrologer said when he passed away.
He had also revealed a divine art for concealing one’s aura that had never been recorded in the world!
Could a heartless imperial ruler of ancient lineage really erase her identity and enter this chaotic mortal world to save Jing Kingdom’s fate?… Mu Yuyan did not know.
It was too illusory and intangible.
But she knew that even after concealing her identity as Empress and all traces of her aura, and taking on her current mortal name…
After coming to this world…
Perhaps only by finding a true immortal sage, or by taking that final step herself and reaching the Sword Saint realm capable of changing the laws of Heaven and Earth, could she extend Great Jing’s life by one more breath.
Withdrawing her thoughts.
Mu Yuyan took a deep breath, raised her head to look at the plaque of the Gu Residence, and the worry in her eyes gradually turned into tenderness.
“Dear husband, I’m back.”
Her voice was gentle, without the slightest trace of an Empress’s majesty.
At this time, several grumbling voices came from the main hall where the family ate.
“I already said to put all the dates into my wife’s bowl. Old Yang, why did you secretly ladle some for me?”
“Young Master, there are enough dates!” Old Yang’s defensive voice came out. “Madam’s bowl barely has a few grains of rice left in it…”
“You… still didn’t need to put in this many. Eh, my wife is back!”
When Gu Lan saw Mu Yuyan enter the room, his brows and eyes relaxed.
“Haven’t you had your monthly period these past few days? I specially cooked this porridge for you to replenish your qi and blood.”
Gu Lan thoughtfully helped her sit down and spoke gently.
Mu Yuyan looked at that bright red bowl of porridge and could not help laughing. She hurriedly picked out a few dates and returned them to his bowl. “Dear husband studies hard every day, so you should be the one to nourish yourself more.”
“With a beauty by my side, studying cannot be counted as hardship.”
Gu Lan picked up a bite of food, sweet words coming out as easily as breathing.
Beside them, Old Yang, who was silently eating, gave a chuckle.
It made Mu Yuyan’s pretty face flush slightly.
Such a warm scene could not be seen in the imperial palace. Immersed in it, not to mention the Empress, even Liu Yexi at the side felt somewhat reluctant to part from it.
“If I could always stay by dear husband’s side, and her Majesty could always be happy, that would be quite nice…”
Though Liu Yexi clearly knew it was impossible, she could not help thinking so.
At this moment, unexpectedly, Gu Lan’s gaze suddenly fell on her, and he asked, “Little Xi, do you seem to have something on your mind?”
Gu Lan had not realized that because he cultivated the righteous qi of the Confucian Dao, his perception was extremely powerful, and it was very easy for him to perceive the emotions of those around him.
Even if it was only revealed for an instant.
Mu Yuyan and Liu Yexi exchanged a glance.
Liu Yexi put down her bowl and chopsticks, improvising on the spot. “Replying to Young Master, today at Dajue Temple, I saw a few refugees, so hungry they barely looked human. They were very pitiful. Seeing the rice in my bowl made me… made me feel a little emotional, that’s all.”
“Refugees, huh? They are indeed quite pitiful.”
Gu Lan shook his head regretfully.
“Are they from Huangzhou?” Old Yang suddenly spoke.
In his earlier years, he had fled disaster from Huangzhou, so he asked out of concern for his hometown.
“No, they’re from the Southern Frontier. There’s a drought going on over there.”
Gu Lan waved his hand and said without thinking.
He remembered that the novel had described this plotline with emphasis.
In Jiaqing Year 3, there was a great drought in the Southern Frontier. Later, because of all kinds of natural disasters and man-made calamities, public resentment boiled over, and the people suffered unspeakably.
Because one villain participated in this plotline, Gu Lan remembered it deeply.
Hearing that they were not fellow townsmen, Old Yang nodded and stopped caring, continuing to focus on eating.
However, the speaker had no intention, while the listener took it to heart.
Mu Yuyan suddenly froze, her beautiful eyes slowly turning toward Gu Lan.
“Dear husband… how do you know it’s a drought in the Southern Frontier?”
Because disasters could easily cause panic, they were all reported through secret memorials by special envoys from the Xuantian Bureau, which answered directly to the Empress.
The journey was several thousand li under urgent dispatch, with sword flight continuing without pause!
Yet even at that speed, the report had only reached the Empress’s desk this afternoon!
Gu Lan shut his ears to worldly affairs and focused only on reading the books of sages. How did he know so quickly?
And how did he know it so accurately?