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Feng Yanyan woke up in cold sweat even before the sun had risen. In his dream, he was being chased by a zombie named Wan Li.

The rotting corpse was clothed with princely robes. It kept screaming that he was Wan Li and those who killed him would pay the price.

Now that he had woken up, Feng Yanyan was aggrieved. Big brother, if you are a ghost, why are you following me?

But of course, in the waking hours, only a few people regarded dreams seriously. His thoughts soon drifted to his situation.

Last night, he offended Wan Li Wang. Feng Yanyan was really puzzled. Was he having an early onset of dementia?

He clearly remembered Wan Li Wang was described as a male in the book. How did he become a woman? As far as Feng Yanyan knew, the genre was BL and not gender-bender.

Trying to recall if there were any other discrepancies, the young man could be seen clutching his head. But it was all in vain...

His little brain couldn't remember too much.

What he only knew was the current status quo. Empress Yao basically suppressed the young Emperor. Her Majesty had control not just in the harem but also in the ministry, in tandem with her grandfather who was the Left Prime Minister.

According to the book, it wasn't like this 16 years ago. Xing Long Emperor ruled justly and had a powerful Crown Prince. His Majesty was prepared to step down and be an Emeritus Emperor but then a disaster happened.

>興隆 - xīng lóng - prosperous - the title of the former Emperor<

The Crown Prince was trapped by a concubine and got killed with poison during their snu-snu moments! Truly a shame! The court blamed it on the Crown Princess for not managing the back palace well. One thing piled after another. And it led to her being given the poisoned cup of wine as punishment.

Xing Long Emperor was so forlorn during all of these that he acquired a disease and slowly died.

The prince that inherited the throne was the second prince whose wife was the Left Prime Minister Yao's daughter.

No one in court believed that the Prime Minister had no hand in this matter. However, they wouldn't make a fuss about it either.

But as luck would have it, the new Emperor that Prime Minister Yao carefully raised suddenly died a year after. It was said that the reason was a brain aneurysm.

The ministers only understood what happened when the next person who inherited the throne was the then five-year-old Crown Prince. Wu Emperor was soon betrothed to Prime Minister Yao's granddaughter who was twelve years old at the time.

This was totally insidious but no one had the gall to revolt because the court was already controlled by the Prime Minister at that point. It was useless so they all became subservient to the current rule.

This would lead us to the present where the Empress and Wan Li Wang were clashing.

Wan Li King was the grandchild of the Xing Long Emperor. The eldest son of the late Crown Prince. Wan Li Wang and his siblings were banished to the West as soon as the Xing Long Emperor perished. But who would have thought he would survive to this day and even grasp a powerful military power in his hand?

Junwang is the book's male lead. Feng Yanyan's one and only target.

The Prince was set to inherit his brother's title after King Wan Li took the throne. The siblings would revolt against the current dragon. It would seem like they would lose at first. Alas, Junwang would be spurred on by the death of his brother. He would win the highest seat in the world!

That was what Feng Yanyan wanted too in order for him to achieve his dream.

Tears started forming in his willow-leaf eyes. He had a lofty goal... to be the Emperor's consort. Only... he couldn't even remember minor plot details well. How come the lecherous King turned out to be a female?

JuZi arrived at the young master looking forlorn.

She was also at a loss on what to do. The three had convened last night and the two maids came to know what happened. It was just that wangye was lenient and let them go. The only thing they could do now was lay low and not do anything inconspicuous.

It was Jiao who came up to comfort the mei ren.

"Young master, eat first and worry about other things later. Wangye is not known to pursue small matters like this."

Pu Tao's lips twitched upon hearing that. Of course, the things that wangye actually pursued would always leave a long trail of blood once caught.

But they wouldn't say that out loud and scare Beauty Feng more.

"I... I have a question." Feng Yanyan peeked from under his lashes.

His lustrous hair fell over his shoulders and his lips that had long been bitten over and over were redder than usual.

Such a sight was enough for any man or woman to swoon.

The trio anticipated his next words.

"Everybody seemed used to it but I have always been ignorant of some things... Can you explain why Wan Li of Suliang is called King?" when in fact she really is a woman...

That was the full length of what he wanted to say but he didn't utter them out loud anymore.

If they were any other servants in this palace, they would coldly reject such a question. And Feng Yanyan might even be punished for his boldness.

But Ju Zi and the other two seemed to be in sync. They swept the room for any eavesdropper and closed the windows.

The sky that had just turned rosy was plunged in the dark again. It was as if a storm blew inside the courtyard and left it devastatingly quiet. His breathing hitched. Maybe he shouldn't have asked anything.

"Young master has been good these past few days. These servants saw how the others call you a bully, schemer and vixen..." Ju Zi opened.

The corner of Feng Yanyan's lips tugged in an odd way. Must she be so blunt?

Jiao continued. "But in truth, young master Feng has no ability to scheme."

"And if worse comes to worst, it will be others who will scheme against the young master." Pu Tao was solemn.

Just like what happened yesterday.

She believed someone set them up. Otherwise, it was difficult for anyone to meet wangye, even accidentally.

These three had stayed inside the palace, whether in Tanglin or here in Suliang, since they were born. They grew up judging if someone wanted to calculate their master.

They naturally did the same to Feng Yanyan. It had only been a week and aside from serving him, they observed him like hawks.

In fact, they reported every movement made by Feng Yanyan to their higher-ups. And of course, that person reported to someone higher.

On the surface, they seemed to have been sent by Junwang carelessly. But even these three didn't know whose hands their reports really ended up in.

This trio were trained without remorse just like all the people in the wangfu. This palace wasn't like any other. It was a fortress of its own where even maids were crafty and wholly loyal to Wan Li.

The first time they saw Feng Yanyan, his allure made them think he was up to no good. Well, he was really up to no good. He coveted their family's Junwang!

It was just that... his brain wasn't good enough. According to Pu Tao's sources, Junwang was closer to that person in Gangqiang Ju now while Beauty Feng wasn't even qualified to stand in the starting line. So the maids could only look at this young master in pity.

All he had was his face.

It wasn't too bad either. As long as they protect him, he could still be raised here in this courtyard in tranquility. Don't look at their young age, these three had some degree of prestige among the servants.

And the others wouldn't slight whoever their master was. As he was their charge, they would naturally take good care of him as long as he didn't do anything that could harm wangye's name.

After all, if he did have the ability to do that, they have nine hundred and nine ways to make him suffer.

Feng Yanyan could hear the nouns, verbs and all the other words they said clearly. It was just that they seemed to insult him but he couldn't find the exact insults. So he couldn't argue.

Seeing his puzzled look, JuZi sighed. As expected, young master Feng was pitiful. She really wanted to ask how in the world he survived in the palace when he was this clueless.

"What we're saying is this question should never be asked in this palace."

Jiao nodded. "But because we want the young master to survive for a while, we're willing to enlighten you a bit."

More and more, Feng Yanyan had a feeling that these three girls were telling him a horror story. Their grim faces mottled by bits of sunlight here and there were slowly creeping him out.

"Aiya... forget that I asked. I probably can't afford to know. Hehe, go on. Open the windows and let's resume our daily routine." He rambled.

Beauty Feng was about to stand up when Pu Tao held him down. "No, no. As servants sent to  young master Feng, we are responsible for you. And we will answer whatever questions you have the best that we can."

Feng Yanyan wilted under their gaze. One must know that underneath his spoiled personality was a coward. He would just pretend that he was dead. Listen with his right ear, don't keep the words in his brain and release them with his left ear.

And so, he was forced to hear the 'horror' story.

Edited: Feb. 12, 2023