Strongly Spoiled by the Villainous Tyrant After Climbing into the Dragon’s Bed - Chapter 5

The winter morning brought a piercing, biting wind.

As the moonlight faded into the white of dawn, the space before the Hall of Supreme Harmony was already filled with officials waiting for the morning court session.

There were both men and women.

“The snow has fallen quite early this year. It is only October, yet many places in the northern border have already been buried,” Cai Qing, the Minister of Revenue, sighed as he looked at the snow on the ground. With a sorrowful face, he spoke to a close friend, “I wonder what His Majesty’s mood is like today, and whether this matter can even be raised.”

“If you aren’t sure, just give it to Master Su and let him pass it to the Grand Secretariat.”

Cai Qing grew even more distressed upon hearing this. He scanned the crowd. “Su Luo isn’t here… why haven’t any of those from the Grand Secretariat arrived?”

“The Eldest Princess’s people haven’t come either,” someone whispered.

“His Majesty summoned them into the palace last night to discuss matters, and those lords didn’t leave until the end of the Hour of the Ox (around 3:00 AM). It’s only the Hour of the Rabbit (5:00 AM) now; they won’t be coming to the morning court,” said an official who knew the inside story.

The crowd paused, exchanging glances before falling silent in unspoken understanding.

The Grand Secretariat was where Tan Huairan truly managed the affairs of state.

It was also his one-man show.

“Has Zhan Jing of the Imperial Academy arrived? Did His Majesty do something preposterous yesterday?” an aged voice rang out.

Everyone looked over and saw it was Chen Zhiyi, the Grand Consultant.

Chen Zhiyi was over sixty years old, yet his spirit was hale and hearty, despite having a bald patch on the top of his head.

Although that spot could be covered by his official hat, Tan Huairan always called him “Red-Crowned Crane,” clearly disliking him intensely.

Zhan Jing, standing in the crowd, stiffened and stepped forward, a hint of flattery appearing on his old face. “Lord Chen, I am here.”

He was a seventh-rank Clerk of the Imperial Academy, while Chen Zhiyi was a fifth-rank Grand Consultant.

Chen Zhiyi glanced at him with some disdain and snorted. “I heard that your second son really entered the palace yesterday?”

—Zhan the Second, Zhan Yueqing, the second son of the Zhan family.

Cold sweat seeped from Zhan Jing’s forehead, but he shirked the question. “I know nothing of the matters at home.”

Chen Zhiyi’s aged face wrinkled. “You don’t even know if your own son went back to sleep? Did he not come to pay his respects?”

Zhan Jing sighed, putting on the act of a father with a disobedient son, portraying the image that every family has its own difficult problems.

“His family has a second son?” someone asked in surprise. “I always thought there was only Zhan De… who is this second son? Wait, where is Zhan De? He doesn’t seem to have come today?”

“Zhan the Second didn’t study at the Imperial Academy, did he? My son, Xueyi, talks to me about the Academy every day, and I’ve never heard that the Zhan family had a second son.”

Zhan Jing hurriedly spoke up, “He has a stubborn nature and dislikes studying. He was raised outside from a young age and did not pass the Imperial Academy’s assessment.”

“So that’s how it is,” Lord Lyu, who had spoken previously, realized suddenly. “No wonder my Xueyi never mentioned it to me.”

“How old is your second son?” Chen Zhiyi suddenly asked.

Zhan Jing: “…”

“Why does Lord Chen ask this?” Cai Qing interjected. “Could it be you want to ask if the Zhan family has any suitable daughters to send into the palace? That is a matter for the Ministry of Rites, isn’t it? Why are you asking?”

He and Chen Zhiyi had some past grievances and were quite at odds; he loved to snap at him whenever possible.

Zhan Jing quickly regained his composure. “I wouldn’t dare, I wouldn’t dare. The daughters of my house are still young.”

The sentence he left unsaid was—only a fool would dare suggest sending a girl into the palace.

Ever since Tan Huairan ascended the throne, matters of marriage or concubines could not be mentioned in court at all. At best, it resulted in a flogging; at worst, it involved the execution of nine generations.

Only Chen Zhiyi was unafraid of death, and being all alone without the shackles of nine generations, he frequently admonished Tan Huairan.

Zhan Jing knew what Chen Zhiyi wanted to ask, but he did not dare answer.

The matter of “exchanging one son for another” was something His Majesty had only sent someone to hint at; he hadn’t forced it.

But Zhan Jing had been anxious, which is why he had taken the person from the Prince of An’s manor and sent him into the palace.

The moment the sedan chair entered the palace, a pale-faced Zhan De was released from the Heavenly Prison, met by his worried parents outside.

Meanwhile, Zhan Yueqing had been tied up like a bundle and thrown into the palace like a discarded object.

It was impossible for Zhan Jing to let this matter be brought to light by Chen Zhiyi in court, so he only dared to say he didn’t know.

But—logically speaking, given Tan Huairan’s violent reputation, Zhan Jing believed that after the event, Zhan Yueqing would not be left alive.

This matter should have been a secret, so how did Chen Zhiyi know?

Many thoughts raced through Zhan Jing’s mind. Suddenly, he thought of His Royal Highness the Prince of An. He discreetly scanned the officials, and his brow furrowed.

The Prince of An didn’t come to the morning court today either?

Tan Huairan hadn’t slept last night. He had fought with Zhan Yueqing, and on top of that, his emotions were being pulled back and forth as he constantly doubted Zhan Yueqing’s identity.

Therefore, when he attended the court, his expression was extremely dark and gloomy.

It terrified the officials into trembling.

After all, when Tan Huairan first ascended the throne, he had a precedent for publicly beating a former dynasty official to death.

Even now, there was a pool of indelible blood on the floor tiles of the Golden Hall, like the lingering resentment of the man after his death.

This pool of “resentment” deterred many ministers, but it did not threaten Chen Zhiyi.

“Your Majesty,” Chen Zhiyi stepped forward. “May I ask if the Second Young Master of the Zhan family, Zhan Yueqing, who entered the palace last night, is still alive?”

Tan Huairan sat on the dragon throne, his hand playing with a bloody object. Hearing this, he nonchalantly lifted his eyes to glance at him, recognizing that the speaker was someone who secretly relied on the Prince of An.

“What does a son of the Zhan family have to do with you?” Tan Huairan said coldly.

He was dressed in the imperial ceremonial robes. The object in his hand was unknown, but it left his hand covered in blood.

In his youth, his palms had held reins and drawn longbows; there was a thin layer of callus on his fingers. When there was something else on his wheat-colored skin, it was very clear.

For instance, the color of blood.

Chen Zhiyi showed no fear, only saying, “It was one thing for Your Majesty to act recklessly in the past, but it was truly improper to abduct the Prince of An’s person, the second son of the Zhan family, into the palace last night.”

Zhan Jing was shocked upon hearing this.

The movement of Tan Huairan’s hand paused. Suddenly, he stood up and threw the object in his hand before the assembled ministers—

What he had been playing with just now was actually a severed human tongue.

the faces of the ministers changed instantly.

“The… Prince… of… An’s… person?”

Tan Huairan spoke word by word. Heaven knows what he was thinking, but his expression became increasingly terrifying.

[Kill him.] The system in his mind suddenly spoke. [He has defied the sovereign.]

Tan Huairan acted as if he hadn’t heard. Instead, he said to Chen Zhiyi, “This tongue was pulled from that person’s body—I ripped it out with my own hands. Is it a surprise?”

His tone was thick with thunderous rage.

The ministers were so frightened that they knelt down. For a moment, cries of “Your Majesty, please appease your anger” echoed throughout the hall.

“The second son of the Zhan family…” Tan Huairan spoke again, looking toward Zhan Jing, appearing somewhat confused. “Does the Zhan family have a second son?”

Zhan Jing was stunned, then quickly replied, “There is no second son!”

His Majesty saying this must mean he has already arranged the remaining matters!

Just a piece of trash; if he’s dead, he’s dead. His Majesty must have killed him last night.

That was why he was hinting at him like this.

[Kill Chen Zhiyi.] The system said again. [He has defied you more than once. Why have you never killed him?]

Tan Huairan ignored everyone, only staring at Zhan Jing with sinister eyes.

What a forceful and powerful answer.

It seemed that the fact that the twenty-year-old Zhan Yueqing looked like a fifteen-year-old wasn’t entirely the Prince of An’s fault.

Zhan Jing trembled all over under that gaze, as if he were being stared at by a soul-snatching demon.

Tan Huairan narrowed his eyes dangerously and walked down.

When his face was dark, that handsome visage was full of gloom, as if he might turn into an evil spirit and devour someone at any second.

“No second son? You reminded me…” Tan Huairan’s tone was light, and he let out a cold laugh, settling old scores: “My memory has been getting worse lately. Can anyone tell me what the punishment should be for the Director of the Banqueting Court, who conspired with external enemies to poison me at the palace banquet a few days ago?”

The demon opened its maw.

Zhan Jing’s face changed instantly—Zhan De was the sixth-rank Director of the Banqueting Court.

[You haven’t handled this yet?] The system was puzzled. [When I was about to go offline the other day, didn’t I tell you to drag him out and beat him to death?]

Tan Huairan finally replied to it in his mind, “Beating him to death is too easy… it doesn’t fit the ‘tyrant’ persona you spoke of. He must experience hope and then despair to make people truly afraid, allowing the ‘Brutality Value’ to rise another level.”

His system was called 001. Since he had been born into this world, it had coexisted with him.

001 had two functions—one was the “Brutality Value,” which rigidly confined him to the persona of a tyrant.

It could sense people’s fear of Tan Huairan. One point of fear would increase the Brutality Value by one point, but if someone praised Tan Huairan as a wise ruler, it would cancel out some of the Brutality Value.

If the Brutality Value fell below 80%, 001 would consider that the host had failed to meet the tyrant persona and would control Tan Huairan’s words and actions for a period of time.

In addition, if he did not act according to its tasks, he would be punished by it.

It was too rigid; it did not understand human emotions. It only used the host’s eyes and ears to judge whether he had become a tyrant.

If he hadn’t, it would seize control of his body for a certain amount of time to forcibly maintain the tyrant persona.

The other function, named [Cinderella], was something Tan Huairan had won by pitting his wits against it when he was nineteen.

This function stipulated that: From the Hour of the Ox (1:00 AM) to the Hour of the Rabbit (5:00 AM), the system would automatically go offline, and during this time, Tan Huairan was free.

Before ascending the throne, Tan Huairan didn’t think there was anything wrong with this system; instead, it had helped him quite a bit, allowing him to command the wind and rain and become the emperor at age eighteen.

But after ascending the throne, 001 began to cause trouble.

Tan Huairan was unwilling to carry out the things it said. To that end, he spent a lot of effort deceiving it and even claimed to the outside world that he had a “madness.”

Under the constant surveillance of the system, Tan Huairan felt that perhaps he really was going crazy.

At the very least, during his time as Crown Prince, he would not have attended court holding someone’s tongue.

[Something is wrong.] The system suddenly began to scream. [Something is wrong, you’re not doing this right—why are you explaining Zhan De’s fault in front of so many people? This does not fit the persona of a tyrant who kills without cause!!! Everyone knows Zhan De is at fault, so he will be judged by the laws of the Ning Kingdom. People will think you have the potential to be a wise ruler!]

[You’ve gone OOC (Out of Character) again!!!]

A bad premonition arose in his heart, and Tan Huairan’s brow furrowed—

The Brutality Value had dropped to 90!

Tan Huairan saw the value in his mind and frowned.

It was clearly at 100 yesterday before Zhan Yueqing appeared.

As soon as Zhan Yueqing arrived, he knocked it down by 10 points.

The system had never dropped like this before, which meant Zhan Yueqing was special—he truly was his “white moonlight.”

Then in the future…

Tan Huairan suddenly realized something, and his fingertips tightened.

—The closer he got to Zhan Yueqing, the more likely he was to be controlled by the system?

[The disobedient must be punished!!!] 001 didn’t realize it had exposed anything and began to scream.

In an instant, a pain as if his body were being shattered to pieces surged through him.

Tan Huairan’s vision went black for a second. His footsteps nearly faltered, but he endured it, his face remaining that same gloomy expression, like a ghost returned from the underworld.

All of this happened in an instant.

The ministers were kneeling; no one noticed anything.

“Attempting to harm His Majesty is no small crime,” a female official spoke up. “Which sixth-rank capital official is it?”

Tan Huairan’s vision darkened repeatedly, and his internal organs felt as if they were being mangled by the system’s electric shocks.

But his endurance was too great; not only did he not make a sound, he even turned around with light steps and said as if nothing were wrong: “Naturally, it is…”

“—Zhan De.”

Tan Huairan’s handsome face remained peerless, but his words seemed to be ground out from between his teeth.

“Lord Xue, I leave this to you to handle.”

Xue Fei, the Minister of Justice, complied.

“Your Majesty—I also have a matter to report,” another minister spoke up. “It concerns someone cheating in the imperial examinations three years ago.”

Zhan Jing’s face turned deathly pale upon hearing this.

Others said the tyrant was fatuous and incompetent, but he knew that was all just a surface appearance.

It only depended on whether he was willing to take action to clean things up.

He had originally thought that since three years had passed, no one would know anymore.